On Marriage
by snailexpress
Summary: HGSS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge. In process again!
1. Default Chapter

Title: On Marriage, Chapter One - The Proposal  
  
Disclaimers: I own none of it. Everything you recognize is owned by JK Rowling, her publishers or someone else, but not me. I'm just playing with the characters for a little bit. Please don't sue me; I have nothing.  
  
A/N: This is my response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge. I don't think it's going to end up following all of the guidelines but, as my first fan fic, is proving to be a lot of fun to write anyway. I hope you enjoy it as well. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. I will try to update quickly and regularly, but promise nothing until the holidays are over.  
  
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The war against Voldemort was over. Unfortunately, Ministry Aurors and the surviving members of the Order of the Phoenix still had their hands full attempting to quell the last of Voldemort's followers. Surviving Death Eaters had been putting on vicious displays all summer in the hopes of gaining additional followers, but were being identified one by one and taken to Azkeban.  
  
Still labeled as too young to be members of the Order, despite their role in final battle of the war, Harry, Hermione and the two youngest Weasleys were spending the last half of their summer holiday at 12 Grimmauld Place. It was technically Harry's home now, but he had been happy to let it remain Order headquarters as well.  
  
Midsummer afternoon found the four sitting around the long table in the kitchen, looking over a list left by Molly Weasley. It was everything she wanted to have completed before the Midsummer Night feast she was planning for Order members.  
  
"Mini-feast anyway," Harry had joked, though with the entire Weasley clan planning to be in attendance, 'mini' was something of a subjective term.  
  
Ginny and Hermione had, after some groans from the boys, just finished dividing up the workload when the kitchen door opened. Minerva McGonagoll stepped into the room. She looked somewhat distracted.  
  
"Miss Granger, may I have a world with you, please?"  
  
"Certainly, Professor," Hermione replied. She put the chores list into Ginny's hands and followed her head of house out into the hallway. She had no doubt that Ginny would be able to get Ron and Harry started on their own tasks. Professor McGonagoll opened the door to the study across the hall from the kitchen and ushered Hermione inside.  
  
Albus Dumbledore stood beside a large desk, looking through a stack of parchments there. He looked up and smiled as the two women stepped into the room. "Ah, Miss Granger, do come in and sit down." He motioned to two chairs in front of the desk. Hermione sat herself in one, and Professor McGonagoll took the other, still looking as though she was thinking through a particularly difficult problem. Severus Snape stood on the far side of the room, his arms crossed over his chest, a scowl directed through the window. Hermione thought it looked as though he hadn't even registered that anyone else had entered the room.  
  
"I trust that your summer has been enjoyable thus far?" the Headmaster questioned. He was still smiling, but Hermione noted that the usual sparkle was absent from his blue eyes.  
  
"Yes, sir, it has been." Hermione sent a quick glance to Professor McGonagoll, but the older woman quickly averted her gaze. Hermione sat up straighter in her chair, her heart rate picking up as she began to worry. "Is everything all right, sir? Has something happened?"  
  
Dumbledore chuckled slightly, but the sound held little actual mirth. "Dear girl, sometimes I think you might be too perceptive for your own good."  
  
Hermione swallowed hard, her mind tumbling over possible scenarios. There were still several Order members that she hadn't seen since Voldemorts demise. She nothing had happened to anyone during a raid on the remaining Death Eaters. But I wouldn't have been pulled aside for news like that, unless. "My parents?" she whispered, brown eyes growing wide with a fear she was unable to hide. Hermione knew she wouldn't have traded her friendship with Harry for anything, but being close to The-Boy-Who-Lived had put all of them in danger and, by extension, their families as well. The Grangers had decided to take a long-awaited vacation once they had received word that Voldemort was dead. Members of the Order had been keeping an eye on them up to that point, but everyone had assumed that Hermione's family would be safe after that.  
  
"Oh no, Miss Granger, nothing so drastic as that," Dumbledore assured her with haste. She sighed with relief at the news and waited for him to continue. "You are aware of the new marriage law that applies to muggleborn witches such as yourself, are you not?"  
  
Hermione couldn't stop a snort of derision worthy of Professor Snape at the mention of the Ministrys latest bit of foolishness. It had already affected quite a few of her acquaintances but she knew that there had been a large public outcry against the law and hoped that it would be overturned before she was required to submit to it.  
  
"I take that as a yes," Dumbledore said, raising his eyebrows slightly as he peered over the tops of his half-moon glasses at Hermione. He paused for just a moment as he looked through the parchments on the desk and selected three. "The first of your proposals has arrived," he said simply.  
  
Hermione gasped and blinked at him. Both Professors Dumbledore and McGonagoll seemed to have frozen where they sat, waiting for her respond. After a brief moment, Hermione let her breath out in a little laugh.  
  
"That's impossible. I won't be of age until September. That's still two months away and no one can make a claim on me until then."  
  
Hermione was convinced of the truth. No one could dispute her birthday, it was on her birth certificate. And the law itself stated that it applied only to witches and wizards aged eighteen and above. The first sound in the room was a soft rustle of robes as Professor Snape turned his attention from the window to the conversation that had been taking place at the desk. Professor McGonagoll made a quiet, nondescript sound of comfort and placed a hand on Hermione's arm.  
  
Dumbledore didn't say anything in response, just handed the first sheet of parchment to Hermione. She read through it quickly, color draining from her cheeks as she reached the bottom of the scroll. The Ministry knew she had used a time turner in her third year and had added those hours to her actual age, which meant that she was considered to be eighteen even though her actual birth date was still some two months away. It also meant that any unmarried pureblooded wizard over the age of eighteen could request her hand in marriage and she would be forced to comply.  
  
"You said I had already received a proposal?" she asked weakly, raising chocolate eyes from the Ministry parchment to meet Dumbledore's kind blue gaze. She wasn't terribly hopeful for good news, but there was always the slight chance that a school acquaintance had signed a petition for her. Several of her classmates were already bound in similar arrangements.  
  
"You have already received two proposals, my dear," Dumbledore replied, handing her two sealed scrolls of parchment. Hermione placed the Ministry paperwork in her lap and looked at the wax stamps on the new scrolls. She gnawed on her lip, trying to recognize the family crest on the first, but didn't recognize it. Popping through the wax seal, she unrolled the scroll and skimmed over it quickly.  
  
"Theodore Nott," she stated listlessly.  
  
She turned her attention to the second scroll, hoping for better news, and her stomach lurched. She recognized the family crest immediately and almost refused to open the petition. Knowing that it wouldn't make the situation any less real, Hermione took a deep breath and broke though the green wax. The contents of the scroll came as no surprise.  
  
"Draco Malfoy."  
  
Professor McGonagoll 'tut'ed softly and patted Hermione's arm again. Hermione forced a small smile in thanks for the older woman's concern, then stacked the three sheets of parchment and took a determined breath.  
  
"I'm certainly not going to marry either one of them," she announced. Dumbledore nodded slightly.  
  
"Of course not."  
  
"I have seven days from the last petition to make my choice," Hermione continued matter-of-factly. "Ron had planned to petition for me in September, but he can do it just as easily now. I'll choose Ron and that's that." Hermione had always hoped to marry for love, but had already admitted to herself that the current situation wouldn't be likely to allow for it. She loved Ron, but wasn't in love with him. Still, he was someone that she knew and trusted and cared a great deal about. They had talked at length about the possibility of one day being married because of the Ministry law and Hermione was at least assured that they would have a pleasant life together.  
  
From the window, Professor Snape snorted. "And the moment as you accept Mr. Weasley's marriage proposal, he will come to a quick and nasty end."  
  
Hermione twisted in her chair to look at her Potions professor. She was able to get the full benefit of his sneer before turning back to look at Professors McGonagoll and Dumbledore.  
  
"I'm afraid that Severus is correct in this situation, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said without hesitation. "The two offers you have received thus far are both from the sons of prominent Death Eaters. Voldemort may be gone, but his supporters still exist and are looking to do damage in any manner possible. You are a very bright muggleborn witch and played a large role in Voldemort's defeat. That makes you very valuable. Anyone who plans to wed you in place of one of these young men needs to be in a position to protect himself against retaliation."  
  
Hermione shook her head in confusion. "That doesn't leave very many people."  
  
Professor McGonagoll shook her head. "No, it does not. However, there are suitable bachelors."  
  
"Who?" Hermione asked simply.  
  
A clatter at the window interrupted any answer. Professor Snape unfolded his crossed arms and pushed open the latch. A nondescript owl fluttered into the room, circled Snape's head and dropped a scroll of parchment into his hand before disappearing back through the window. Snape looked at the scroll over in his hand, scowled at it, and stepped towards the desk as he offered it to Hermione.  
  
"Me." 


	2. Chapter Two Hermione's Decision

Title: On Marriage, Chapter Two - Hermione's Decision  
  
Summary: HG/SS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard - can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge.  
  
Disclaimers: I own none of it. Everything you recognize is owned by JK Rowling, her publishers or someone else, but not me. I'm just playing with the characters for a little bit. Please don't sue me; I have nothing. (And for anything I inadvertently lifted from someone else's fan fic, I profusely apologize. I've read so many and worked this idea over so many times I'm sure that I've added things without meaning to.)  
  
A/N: I'm going to attempt to keep my interruptions to the bare minimum from this point forward. but I did want to give a quick thanks to everyone who's read, rated and/or reviewed. I really hadn't expected my attempt at fan fic to get such a response, much less such a good one. You guys are great! :) Eh - a sidenote. I caught a few mistakes in the first bit and will try to be more careful in the future. My own fault for having no beta.  
  
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Hermione wasn't entirely sure how she'd ended up back in her bedroom. She vaguely recalled Professors Dumbledore and McGonagoll explaining the merits of an engagement to Professor Snape, before dismissing her with the suggestion that she "think it over". Thankfully, Snape himself had had nothing to add. He continued on with as quiet of a presence as he'd had when she'd first stepped into the room, his scowl suggesting to Hermione that he was as displeased with the situation as she was. In some strange way that made her feel a little bit better.  
  
She remembered walking past Ginny and the boys in the entrance hall. Ron was too busy complaining about how much he hated mopping to notice that anything was wrong until Ginny looked up from her dusting and asked what had happened. Harry abandoned his banister polishing, but Hermione only offered a vague excuse before heading up the stairs. The three she'd left in her wake stared after her.  
  
Catching a furtive glance from Ron as Hermione disappeared at the top of the stairs, Ginny threw down her dusting rag. "I'll go check on her then."  
  
"You're the best, Ginny," Harry smiled as the red-haired girl headed up the stairs.  
  
Hermione's roiling thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. She glanced up as Ginny poked her head into the room.  
  
"Can I come in, Hermione?"  
  
Hermione sighed, trying to force herself to smile. "It's your room too, Ginny."  
  
Ginny shrugged and stepped inside, closing the door behind herself. She sat on her bed, across the small room from Hermione. "Is everything really all right? You seem worried."  
  
Hermione looked down at the collection of scrolls in her lap and contemplated shoving them all beneath her pillow and telling Ginny that yes, everything was perfectly fine. If she'd thought for a moment that it would make the problem go away, she would have done exactly that.  
  
"I'm getting married," she said instead.  
  
Ginny's reaction was much the same as her own had been. She gasped and a look of surprise crossed her face, then there was a moment of thought followed by a little laugh.  
  
"You're not eighteen yet, you can't get married." Her attention moved to the rolls of parchment in Hermione's lap. "Have you honestly already received petitions for your engagement? The Ministry must have made a mistake." The tone of Ginny's voice said quite clearly that she thought whichever clerk had mistaken Hermione's birth date was completely daft.  
  
Hermione shook her head. "It's no mistake." She held out the Ministry notification so that Ginny could read it for herself. Ginny took the parchment and skimmed it, her cheeks growing red.  
  
"Oh for Merlin's sake!" the younger girl exclaimed, throwing down the letter. "The time turner? Have they gone completely mad?"  
  
Hermione smiled, glad that Ginny at least was able to express herself and her frustration over the silliness of the notification. A shuffling noise on the other side of the door grabbed the attention of both girls, who exchanged knowing glances and waited.  
  
There was another shuffle, followed by Ron's whisper. "Has who gone completely mad? Can you hear anything Harry?"  
  
"Ron, come on. Just knock on the door."  
  
Ginny growled, crossed the room in few steps and threw open the bedroom door. Ron, who's ear had been pressed to the door, tumbled in. Harry, who had been leaning against the banister, stood up quickly and had the sense to look sheepish.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" Ginny demanded in her best Molly Weasley tone. Standing over her brother with her hands on her hips, she looked just like a miniature version of her mother. Ron clambered to his feet as he turned a brilliant shade of pink and hung his head.  
  
"We were worried," he offered.  
  
Ginny moved as though to shove Ron back out into the hallway, when Hermione waved a hand dismissively. "It's all right, Ginny. I might as well tell you all together, it's not going to be a secret for very long anyway." The boys came into the room, Ron perching on the edge of Hermione's bed and Harry taking a seat beside Ginny.  
  
"What did we miss?" Ron asked indelicately.  
  
"Ron." Harry began, but cut off when Ginny picked up the Ministry letter and put it in his hands.  
  
"I'm being forced to get married," Hermione explained to Ron as Harry read over the letter, his brows furrowed. "The Ministry considered the year I used the time turner and added it to my age. I've lived eighteen years regardless of my actual birth date, and they put me on the list today. I've already gotten my first offers."  
  
"May I see them?" Harry asked. Hermione handed him two of the three engagement petitions.  
  
Ron threw his arm around Hermione's shoulder. "Turn them down," he said. "I'll send my petition in tonight and you should have it in the morning."  
  
From the other side of the room, Ginny gasped. She'd been reading the engagement petitions over Harry's shoulder. "Oh, Hermione," she breathed. "Do it now, Ron. She can't accept either one of these offers."  
  
Ron leaned over to take the petitions from Harry and his ears turned red when he saw the names. "Nott and Malfoy?" He threw the letters down and stood up. "I'm going to draft my petition right now. You'll have to help me with it Hermione, so it sounds right."  
  
"Ron, no," she said quietly, grabbing his wrist to keep him from flying from the room. Ginny looked as surprised as her brother, but Harry seemed to understand.  
  
"Hermione can't marry you, Ron." He'd locked eyes with Hermione, who nodded slightly.  
  
"What do you mean she can't marry me? She has to choose from the petitions. Why not mine?"  
  
Hermione looked down at the petition she still held in her lap, the one she hadn't shown to her friends - Snape's offer. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, willing herself to believe that she was doing the right thing. "Because I've already made up my mind which petition to accept."  
  
"What?" the Weasleys asked in unison.  
  
"You've chosen between Nott and Malfoy?" Ron looked at Hermione as though she'd suddenly grown a second head.  
  
"Hermione, no," Ginny said quietly, almost pleading.  
  
"Have you gone daft?" Ron continued. "Why would you want to marry either one of those prats? Malfoy could put you in real danger, Hermione, and I doubt that Nott would be much better. His father is a Death Eater too, you know."  
  
"I know. That's why I'm accepting this one." She held out the third scroll.  
  
Harry took the roll of parchment and slowly opened it. As Ginny and Ron leaned in to read over his shoulder, Hermione gnawed on her lip. She wasn't expecting a pleasant reaction to the news.  
  
She wasn't disappointed.  
  
Ginny paled and looked up, horrified. Ron turned a bright shade of red and began muttering under his breath. Hermione didn't catch most of what he said, but caught the phrase "greasy git" and what sounded like an off-the- cuff plan to hex him into oblivion.  
  
"Ron. Ron, please calm down and let me explain."  
  
"I think it's a brilliant idea, Hermione," Harry said, much to the amazement of everyone in the room.  
  
"What?" What little color had come back to Ginny's cheeks faded away again.  
  
Ron whirled on Harry as though he'd been struck. "Have you two lost your bloody minds? Hermione is going to marry Snape and you think it's a good idea?"  
  
"I do," Harry nodded, getting to his feet. Ron stepped back involuntarily, which got him close enough to Hermione that she was able to take his wrist and tug him back onto the bed beside her. She was a bit surprised that he stayed there, and quietly. "Nott and Malfoy don't want Hermione for any reason other than to destroy her, I'm sure. If you were to marry her Ron, they'd kill you to get to her."  
  
Hermione nodded. It was exactly the same scenario that Dumbledore feared.  
  
"I care too much for you to put you in that kind of danger, Ron," Hermione said, taking his hand. "Professor Snape is someone that not even the Death Eaters will be able to harm."  
  
"But you'll be stuck with him forever, Hermione. Wizard marriages aren't as easy to dissolve as muggle ones, you know."  
  
"I know." Hermione forced a small smile. She had barely had enough time to digest the situation she was in before she was being forced to make a decision that would affect the rest of her life. She was talking herself into the decision as much as she was convincing her friends that it was the right thing to do. "But Professor Snape can't really be that bad."  
  
Ron snorted derisively and Ginny looked skeptical.  
  
"He can't be," Hermione said forcefully. "If he were really such an awful person would he have risked his life for so long to spy on Voldemort? He's saved our lives more times than we know and I don't think any one of us has even taken the time to thank him properly. He didn't have to do this." She motioned towards the engagement petition. "It was something he offered to do to keep me safe, even though it binds him for the rest of his life as well."  
  
Ron grumbled something inappropriate and rude, but cut the comment short when Hermione glared at him.  
  
"Do you really think it will be all right, Hermione?" Ginny asked. She looked as though she were going to cry. Hermione swallowed hard, her own emotions, which had been largely ignored so far, threatening to well to the surface.  
  
"It has to be, Ginny," she replied. Ron gripped Hermione's hand tightly, and she was hugged in turn by Ginny and Harry. Her eyes glittered dangerously, but she refused to cry.  
  
Taking a deep breath and separating herself from her friends, Hermione picked up Professor Snape's marriage proposal. She found a quill, spread the parchment across her knees, and signed at the bottom, next to the signature of Severus Snape. As quickly as the ink dried, the parchment rolled itself up and disappeared with a soft pop.  
  
Hermione let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "That's it then. I'm marrying Professor Snape." 


	3. Chapter Three Midsummer Feast

Title: On Marriage, Chapter Three - Midsummer Feast  
  
Summary: HG/SS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard - can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge.  
  
Disclaimers: I own none of it. Everything you recognize is owned by JK Rowling, her publishers or someone else, but not me. I'm just playing with the characters for a little bit. Please don't sue me; I have nothing. (And for anything I inadvertently lifted from someone else's fan fic, I profusely apologize. I've read so many and worked this idea over so many times I'm sure that I've added things without meaning to.)  
  
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Hermione halfway expected something drastic to happen the second her signed marriage proposal disappeared. The way Harry, Ginny and Ron were holding their breath, she assumed they were thinking much the same thing.  
  
"Oh, this is silly," she said eventually, breaking the tense silence. "It's not like I'm going to be whisked away to the Hogwarts dungeons this instant." Ginny giggled, if somewhat nervously, and Harry and Ron each managed something of a smile. There was still much to sort out in her own mind and, now, with Professor Snape, but Hermione had no intention of letting her friends upset themselves over it at the moment. There was nothing they could do to change the situation anyway.  
  
Downstairs, the front door opened and there was the shuffling sound of someone entering the house. "That'd be Mum," Ron said unnecessarily. An exasperated noise reminded Harry and the Weasleys that they had left their cleaning half-done and there was a general scramble for the doorway. Hermione followed, offering to help Molly Weasley carry her parcels into the kitchen since she had no other job to do.  
  
Hermione struggled to lift a small but hefty box onto the kitchen table, then went back out to the entryway and brought in the last bag of groceries for the evening's feast. She was unloading the bag onto the table when Professor McGonagoll came into the kitchen to freshen up her cup of coffee. Hermione smiled slightly in response to the older witch's questioning look, which seemed to put her at ease.  
  
"Professor McGonagoll, is Professor Snape still here?" Hermione asked once all of the grocery items had been put away.  
  
"No, dear, he left with Albus a few moments ago. They should both return in time for this evening's feast, however. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to talk with you then."  
  
Hermione nodded, but the exchange had caught the attention of Molly Weasley. Professor McGonagoll related the short version of their afternoon meeting, which was met with much ire from the matriarch of the Weasley family. She understood the danger that any of her sons would be in should they petition for Hermione's hand in marriage, but was quite sympathetic to Hermione as well.  
  
"Poor dear," she said eventually. "Why don't you just go up to your room and rest until this evening? I know you have plenty to think about and Ginny and the boys can finish the straightening up."  
  
"I'm fine, really," Hermione argued, but found herself ushered out of the kitchen and back up to her bedroom. With a slight sigh, she sat down on the edge of her bed and admitted that there was quite a lot of thinking she still needed to do.  
  
Sitting alone in a quiet room with nothing but her thoughts to distract her turned out to be something of a backwards step for Hermione. Thinking of Professor Snape in terms of "husband" proved to be too big of a hurdle, but left her wondering how many of the plans she'd had for her future were still salvageable. She had hoped to go on to university but couldn't imagine how a marriage would impact that goal. Hermione knew that she would obviously be able to finish her Hogwarts schooling and, with a grimace, acknowledged that even that was better than what some of her classmates were faced with. Only the week before, the boys had gotten news of a would-be seventh year who would not be returning due to the wishes of her almost-elderly husband. Apparently he didn't want to waste any more time in getting an heir. Hermione shivered. Producing children was a standard stipulation in most of the marriage contracts, but she hadn't even bothered to see if it had been written into Professor Snape's proposal as well. The thought of attempting to have children with her potions professor left Hermione curled up on her bed, waiting for a wave on nausea to pass. It was just too awkward, and entirely too early in their "relationship", to be thinking of Professor Snape in that manner.  
  
As soon as her stomach was feeling a little more settled, Hermione abandoned her previous train of thought. Knowing that her parents would need to be told, she set about drafting a letter. Sheet after sheet of parchment was abandoned as she began to write, scribbled through the lines and began again. There was no good way to break this sort of news and Hermione knew she was just wasting parchment in at attempt to pass time. She knew that the only proper thing to do would be to tell them in person as soon as they got back from their vacation.  
  
Hermione ended up back on her bed, one "what if" scenario chasing another through her mind. What if her parents reacted poorly to the news? It was highly likely. The only news she'd ever given them of Professor Snape was scathing reports of his classroom behavior. What if Professor Snape always treated her as though he despised her? As far as she knew, he really did. That wouldn't make for a comfortable living situation for either one of them. What if, after accepting this proposal, she met someone she could truly love? Hermione groaned and covered her head with her pillow in a futile attempt to block all of the mental noise. It didn't work, but the emotional turmoil of the afternoon did catch up with her and, quite quickly, she fell asleep.  
  
* * *  
  
Ginny had slipped into the bedroom at dusk, gently waking Hermione and telling her that the Order members were beginning to arrive. Hermione popped into the bathroom to splash some water on her face and freshen up and she was actually quite glad to see that Ginny had waited for her before heading back downstairs.  
  
"Professor Snape is coming back this evening. Since you're likely to be announcing your engagement tonight, I thought I'd offer to help you get ready," she explained. "You might not have gotten engaged under the best of circumstances, but that's no reason to look as though you're under Imperio."  
  
Hermione suddenly felt as though her nap hadn't done a bit of good, but subjected herself willingly to Ginny's ministrations. She did have a point, and a Midsummer Feast, even a small one, was something to celebrate even if her engagement wasn't. Hermione allowed Ginny free reign with her hair. She had grown it longer in an attempt to lessen the bushiness, which had worked to a point. Ginny was quite skilled though and, with the help of a smoothing potion, had tamed Hermione's hair into something that more closely resembled curls than a birds nest. Hermione did, however, draw the line at putting on a green robe for the Feast.  
  
"Absolutely not," she said emphatically when Ginny suggested it. "I don't care that Professor Snape is the head of Slytherin house, I'm not putting on green robes. Certainly not for him." In a fit of what even she recognized as passive-aggression, she chose a set of robes in a deep burgundy instead. Ginny snickered, but declared that Hermione looked lovely and ushered her towards the stairs.  
  
Both of the girls gasped as they descended the stairs into the rest of the house.  
  
"Dumbledore must have arrived," Hermione said, observing the decorations that graced the attractive but previously-undecorated rooms of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. In the spirit of Midsummer, lavish flower garlands hung from the staircase banisters and across mantle pieces. Small lights fluttered around every candle, giving the appearance of lightning bugs floating about the room.  
  
"It looks like a miniature version of the Great Hall," Ginny laughed.  
  
As Ginny had said, members of the Order had already begun to arrive. There were so many people gathered in the dining room than no one even seemed to notice when Ginny and Hermione slipped in. Dumbledore had, in fact, already gotten there. Hermione noticed him standing by the fireplace, laughing at whatever it was that Dedalus Diggle was emphasizing with wild hand gestures. Sturgis Podmore, freed from Azkaban, stood off to the side of the room with Tonks and Molly Weasley. The smattering of red hair throughout the room showed that most of the Weasleys were in attendance. If everyone who had been expected had arrived, only Charley and Percy were missing.  
  
Ginny went off to find Harry and Ron, leaving Hermione standing alone. Hermione wasn't concerned about it, there were plenty of people to greet and exchange pleasantries with, but she kept sending glances through the crowd, looking for someone specific.  
  
"Severus has not yet arrived, Miss Granger." Hermione jumped at the closeness of the quiet voice behind her, and turned to smile up at Dumbledore. It wasn't until he noted Hermione's expression that the usual sparkle returned to his blue eyes. "He planned to return later this evening."  
  
Hermione nodded. "He always arrives after dinner."  
  
Dumbledore winked and allowed himself to be pulled into a nearby conversation. Hermione turned her attention back to the rest of the room just as Ginny returned with Harry, Ron and Tonks, who she greeted as though she had not had an extremely trying afternoon.  
  
* * *  
  
Snape did, in fact, arrive after dinner. So late after dinner that quite a few of the guests had already Apparated home. Those that remained were scattered throughout the kitchen, dining room and study, sipping on various sorts of beverages and wrapped up in long conversations. Hermione was sitting at the kitchen table, listening to Fred and George Weasley regale their siblings and some of the younger Order members with stories of trials for new Weasley's Wizard Wheezes items.  
  
The Midsummer Feast had been so enjoyable that, aside from a vague sense of distraction, Hermione had almost been able to forget that Something Had Happened that afternoon. Reality was brought crashing down on her when the kitchen door opened. She glanced up, expecting to see someone sneaking in for another slice of cake, and felt her stomach lurch when her eyes met the gaze of Professor Snape. She swallowed hard and got to her feet, only half aware that Fred had left off mid-sentence to see what she was looking at. The room went deathly quiet as everyone followed his gaze.  
  
"Miss Granger. May I have a word with you?"  
  
"Certainly, Professor."  
  
She followed him out into the hallway, hearing whispers begin in the kitchen before the door had even shut. With the study and dining room still holding other people, they ended up in the library.  
  
"I received a notice from the Ministry this afternoon," Snape began without preamble. "You accepted the proposal." Hermione almost flinched at the sound of accusation in his voice.  
  
Even in this situation he can't find it within himself to be nice? she thought to herself. "Yes, sir," she said out loud. "It seemed to be the wisest option."  
  
He nodded almost imperceptibly, though Hermione wasn't able to detect any lessening of the scowl he still wore. Snape reached for an interior pocket of his robes. "In that case, this belongs to you now." He brandished a ring, and slipped it onto Hermione's hand before she'd properly realized what was happening. "The ring has been in my family for generations."  
  
She looked at it, stunned, as the sizing of the ring adjusted itself to her finger. The thin band was platinum and held a diamond solitaire. On either side, sat a smaller emerald. The three stones were separated by two entwined S-shaped serpents, etched into the band. Hermione's throat constricted as she realized what this meant.  
  
"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said quietly, not trusting her voice enough to speak any louder or to say any more.  
  
"The Ministry has given us until the end of the year to plan a ceremony and submit the paperwork."  
  
Hermione nodded dumbly. Snape looked at her for a moment, as though waiting to see if she had anything to add. When she didn't, he gathered his robes around himself and headed towards the door of the library.  
  
"If you have nothing to add, we can discuss this in more detail later. Good evening, Miss Granger." He nodded slightly. The first polite action I've ever seen him make, Hermione thought idly. Snape opened the door of the library and stopped in his tracks, swearing under his breath. Having expected him to make a hasty exit, Hermione turned her attention to what was in the corridor and let loose a poorly stifled giggle. This earned her a reproachful look from her fiancé, but a genuine smile from Dumbledore, who stood just on the other side of the door frame with all of the Order members who were still in the house.  
  
"I believe a toast is in order," the headmaster said, winking over Snape's shoulder at Hermione. 


	4. Chapter Four In the Library

Title: On Marriage, Chapter Four - In the Library  
  
Summary: HG/SS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard - can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge.  
  
Disclaimers: I own none of it. Everything you recognize is owned by JK Rowling, her publishers or someone else, but not me. I'm just playing with the characters for a little bit. Please don't sue me; I have nothing. (And for anything I inadvertently lifted from someone else's fan fic, I profusely apologize. I've read so many and worked this idea over so many times I'm sure that I've added things without meaning to.)  
  
***************************  
  
Hermione saw surprisingly little of her fiancé in the weeks that followed their engagement. She received a few terse notes, all addressed to Miss H Granger, mostly dealing with the paperwork side of wedding preparations. There was so little contact with him that there had actually been mornings that she'd woken up and forgotten all about the engagement as though it had been a bad dream. Unfortunately, there were plenty of things to bring it back to her attention.  
  
The engagement ring was one.  
  
"He gave you a bloody Slytherin engagement ring," Ron had grumbled when he'd seen the ring for the first time. Hermione pointed out that the entwined serpents had been taken from the Snape family crest and that Snape's ancestors had been Slytherins as far back as anyone could trace. That wasn't a piece of information that made her any more comfortable wearing the ring.  
  
Getting used to wearing the engagement ring was another issue. Hermione had never been the type of girl to wear much jewelry, so having to constantly wear a ring had been a bit of a challenge. It got tangled in her hair several times and she'd snagged more than one pair of stockings with it.  
  
The Daily Prophet, however, proved to be the most upsetting reminder of her own engagement. Seeing names that belonged to classmates was upsetting, though she hadn't quite been able to determine if it was more or less distressing to see them attached to other classmates or spouses with dubious backgrounds.  
  
Statements similar to Ginny's "Oh look! Lavender Brown and Seamus Finnegan were married yesterday," had become increasingly common over breakfast. No matter how good of a mood she had been in before, the marriage announcements were usually enough to make Hermione lose her appetite.  
  
On a day of particularly distressing announcements - a Hufflepuff girl who had been two years Hermione's senior had died under mysterious circumstances and her "grieving widow" had married again the following morning - Hermione threw down her napkin and walked away from the breakfast table before managing even a single bite of food.  
  
"That's quite enough, Ginny," Molly Weasley had scolded as Hermione stepped out into the hallway. "If you want to read the wedding announcements, read them to yourself." Whatever Ginny's response might have been, Hermione missed it as she made her way to the library. She had been tempted to choose another destination, someplace Harry and Ron wouldn't look immediately, but decided that a comfortable chair and the smell of leather and parchment would more than likely be relaxing enough to make the eventual interruption worth it.  
  
Hermione ran her fingers along a shelf of books, enjoying the feel of the spines beneath her fingers. She did not choose one to read, or even bother looking at their titles as she normally would have done. Instead she wandered past the shelves and deeper into the room. She sat down on a low sofa, tucking her feet beneath herself, and fell into thought.  
  
Hermione didn't often allow herself to spend too much time dwelling on the situation in which she currently found herself - engaged to be married against her will to a man she barely knew, much less had any warm feelings for. Intellectually, she knew that crying about it and wishing for different circumstances wasn't going to change a thing. The law was still in effect. She had signed the engagement proposal. She was going to marry Snape.  
  
With a little gasp, Hermione found that she was blindsided by the emotions that she had worked so hard to ignore since receiving the Ministry letter. Warm tears pricked the underside of her eyelids and no matter how hard she tried to blink them away, they refused to disappear, choosing instead to spill slowly onto her cheeks. Groaning in frustration, Hermione gave in to the emotions that had overwhelmed her. She put her head down on the arm of the sofa and let it come. There was no big production involved, just quiet sniffling and a wet release of tension.  
  
Hermione had no idea how long she'd been sitting in the library. She hadn't moved from the sofa and her cheeks were still wet, but she wasn't crying anymore. Nothing had resolved itself in whatever amount of time she'd been there, but she did feel decidedly better.  
  
Behind her, the door to the library opened.  
  
"Harry, Ron, I just want a little time alone, please," she said without looking over her shoulder.  
  
"Unfortunately, my schedule will not allow that, Miss Granger."  
  
Hermione leapt to her feet at the sound of Snape's voice. He was the last person she'd expected to see, and certainly not someone she wanted to have interrupt an emotional moment. She swiped at her cheeks, cursing herself for not having worn a shirt with long sleeves; it would have made drying her face a much easier task. Snape scowled and she scrambled to think of something appropriate to say.  
  
"My apologies, Professor Snape, you caught me off-guard."  
  
"Apparently." They watched each other, the silence in the room punctuated occasionally by the sound of an errant sniffle. Just as the silence was approaching the point of Decidedly Awkward, Snape moved as though to step forward, but stopped himself and crossed him arms over his chest. Combined with the scowl on his face, Hermione expected him to take points from Gryffindor or assign her a detention, though for what she couldn't imagine. Surely it wasn't against any sort of printed rule to have a cry over the summer holidays.  
  
"Have Messieurs Potter and Weasley been giving you difficulty?"  
  
The question seemed to catch them both off-guard.  
  
"Pardon?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Potter and Weasley. Have they been giving you difficulty over our engagement? I understand that it must be difficult for your friends to comprehend that your decision was made without coersion, even if not under the most ideal of circumstances." The tone in his voice was now decidedly Snapeish again.  
  
Hermione struggled to keep from grinning. "No, sir. Harry and Ron haven't been giving me any more trouble than usual."  
  
Snape snorted. It occurred to Hermione that he rather expected her to have said that yes, Harry and Ron were being relentless in their negativity towards the situation. Actually, their level of tact had been quite surprising. Hermione suspected that had something to do with Molly and Ginny Weasley, but whatever the reason, it was a welcome reprieve from what she had expected.  
  
"I would not expect the rest of your classmates to behave so chivalrously once the school term resumes." The statement carried a tone of warning.  
  
Hermione nodded gravely. "I suspect you're right," she said. "It won't matter that a large portion of the seventh year class has gotten married, I'll be the only girl engaged to a professor. The Ravenclaws will probably think that's where I got my high marks," she added, more to herself than to her fiancé.  
  
He snorted again, and the corner of his mouth twitched. "More than likely." Hermione sent him a hard look, but he met it with one of his own and she quickly swallowed the sharp retort that had leapt to her tongue.  
  
"You have your Apparating license." It was more of a statement than a question. The first of Snape's short notes to Hermione had been a very strong suggestion that she put in her application and take her Apparating test before the end of the summer. He had made a cutting remark about not wanting to spend all of his time setting up portkeys so that they could accomplish everything that would be required of them prior to what should have been her eighteenth birthday.  
  
"Yes." It irked Hermione that he had made the assumption that any suggestion he made would have been acted on immediately but she had done it right away. Partly because she was unused to the possibility of telling her Potions professor "no", and partly because he had a very good point. There were a number of things that would have to be sorted out prior to their wedding and things would run much more smoothly if she was just able to Apparate wherever she needed to go. Having to arrange portkeys for her would take up more of his time and lead to more frustration than either one of them was willing to deal with.  
  
"Good," he said, nodding slightly. "The Headmaster informed me that your parents had returned from their vacation. We will visit them this afternoon so that you may discuss the situation with them. They have already received an owl telling them of our arrival."  
  
Hermione was surprised. "You want to come along?"  
  
Snape's scowl deepened. "The Headmaster feels it will go a long way towards alleviating your parents concerns if they are allowed to meet their. future son-in-law." He seemed to have difficulty with the last word.  
  
Hermione bit her lip in an attempt to keep from laughing aloud. The darkening of Snape's eyes informed her that she'd been caught.  
  
"Do you find that amusing, Miss Granger?" he asked, his tone icy. She had no doubt that, had she made the same mistake in a classroom setting, the Gryffindor totals would have been quite a few points lighter.  
  
She swallowed back the laughter, but could feel the shadow of a smile still playing on her lips. "I apologize, Professor. I was just thinking about how absurd this whole situation will look from a muggle standpoint."  
  
"I do not appreciate being laughed at, Miss Granger."  
  
"Nor do I, sir, and I think we both agree that this is hardly a laughing matter," she said seriously. "But that will not make it any less of an oddity to my parents."  
  
He glared for a moment longer, before relaxing his sneer the tiniest amount. "I will return for you this afternoon." He turned to exit the library.  
  
"Professor, wait!" Hermione called, taking a step after him. Snape stopped in the doorway.  
  
"Yes, Miss Granger?" he sighed.  
  
"Do you have to leave right away, Professor? If we're going to be telling my parents that we're engaged this afternoon, we might want to discuss some things before we go. It will help to ease their minds," she added by way of explanation.  
  
"Such as?" The tone of his voice suggested that he would rather deal with a classroom full of distracted first year students than sit down and talk.  
  
"They'll want to know that you're going to allow me to finish my schooling."  
  
"Don't be a fool," Snape snapped. "Obviously, you will complete your education, Miss Granger."  
  
"They'll probably also feel a bit better if you stop calling me 'Miss Granger'. My name is Hermione."  
  
Snape looked decidedly uncomfortable, but stepped back into the room. He took a seat in a chair opposite the far end of the sofa and motioned for Hermione to sit back down.  
  
"What do you forsee as your parents main concerns?" he asked grudgingly. 


	5. Chapter Five The Grangers

Title: On Marriage, Chapter Five - The Grangers  
  
Summary: HG/SS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard - can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge.  
  
Disclaimers: I own none of it. Everything you recognize is owned by JK Rowling, her publishers or someone else, but not me. I'm just playing with the characters for a little bit. Please don't sue me; I have nothing. (And for anything I inadvertently lifted from someone else's fan fic, I profusely apologize. I've read so many and worked this idea over so many times I'm sure that I've added things without meaning to.)  
  
***************************  
  
Hermione was still terribly unused to the awkward feeling associated with Apparating. It wasn't as dizzying as traveling by floo, but was unnerving nonetheless. When she and Snape - Severus, she corrected herself quickly - Apparated behind a tall hedge in front of her parent's house, she very nearly lost her balance. A hand on her elbow kept her from tipping over into the shrubbery.  
  
"Thank you," she murmured, straightening herself. Snape, Severus, removed his hand as soon as she was stable. Nervously, Hermione checked to make sure that her dress hadn't gotten twisted around funny in the split second since they'd left Number 12 Grimmauld Place, but she appeared to be in order. Snape had turned a rather unimpressed eye on the house in front of them.  
  
"It's not as impressive as Hogwarts, but it's not at all bad for muggle housing," she said dryly. Snape nodded almost imperceptibly.  
  
Hermione took the lead and closed the distance to the front door. She was vaguely aware that Severus was only a step behind her and she found it incredibly unnerving. True, she was engaged to the man, but prior to that morning she'd never really had much of a conversation with him. She wondered if it would be possible to convince her parents that she wasn't making a terrible mistake. Taking a deep breath, Hermione pressed the doorbell.  
  
Muted chimes sounded from the other side of the front door, followed by an equally muffled "They're here!" Hermione's stomach tied itself into a knot. A moment later, the front door opened to reveal an older version of Hermione.  
  
"Mum!" Hermione cried, launching herself into her mother's arms. A chuckle announced the arrival of her father, so Hermione extricated herself from her mother and gave him a hug as well. Familiar greetings taken care of, and invitations to enter the comfortable living room extended, Hermione stepped back and became painfully aware of Severus, still standing only a foot or so away.  
  
"Mum, Dad, this is Severus Snape," she said. "Pr- Severus, these are my parents, Margaret and Daniel Granger."  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Severus said, shaking hands with both of Hermione's parents in turn. The Grangers murmured the appropriate niceties and everyone smiled politely. Hermione was tempted to glance out the front window to see if the world was coming to an end.  
  
"Snape?" Hermione's mother asked as she urged Hermione and Severus to relax on the sofa. "I think I recognize that name."  
  
Hermione shifted uncomfortably, feeling even more awkward when her elbow brushed against Severus'. "You should," she began.  
  
"I am a professor at Hogwarts," Severus supplied.  
  
Hermione's father nodded. "Ah, that explains it, then. What is it that you teach?"  
  
"I teach Potions."  
  
"I suppose that would be rather like Chemistry?" Hermione's mother asked. Severus stared at her for the briefest moment, expressionless.  
  
"It's a bit more involved than that, Mum, but not dissimilar," Hermione said quickly. "Severus is actually a Potions Master. That means he has quite a lot of specialized knowledge and is particularly talented in his field. There aren't as many Potions Masters around as you might suppose; it's not really something that just anyone is capable of."  
  
"I see," her mother replied, sounding as though she was truly trying to comprehend the difference. Hermione was quite pleased that although her parents often did not understand the differences between the magical and muggle worlds, they did at least put forth the attempt.  
  
"So what is it that brings you by today?" Hermione's father asked. "We had hoped to see Hermione again before her school term started, but Dumbledore's letter made it sound as though this was more than just a social visit."  
  
"Yes, I suppose it is." Although Severus had spoken, she knew she couldn't very well leave him to explain the entire situation to her parents. If she wanted them to believe that she had had any decision to make, she needed to be the one to break the news to them.  
  
"Mum, Dad, I have some exciting news." Hermione thought she saw Severus raise an eyebrow slightly, but didn't dare turn to look at him.  
  
Hermione's mother gasped and smiled and her father grinned from ear to ear. "You made Head Girl!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Oh, we just knew you would, sweetheart," her mother said. "We're both so proud of you."  
  
"Erm." Hermione shifted in her seat again. "Actually, no. Those letter's haven't been delivered yet so I'm not sure if I'll be Head Girl or not."  
  
The Grangers looked a little sheepish for having gotten ahead of themselves. "What is it then, darling?" her mother asked.  
  
Hermione cleared her throat and smiled. "I'm getting married."  
  
Although she knew it lasted only a second or two, Hermione thought the silence felt as though it lasted an eternity.  
  
"Married?" her father asked, as though he had no idea what the word meant.  
  
"To who, Hermione?" her mother questioned. "I thought you had broken up that Krum boy quite awhile back."  
  
"Not to Vicktor, Mum. I'm engaged to Severus."  
  
Her announcement was greeted by another momumental silence. She shifted uncomfortably again and Severus opened his mouth as though to speak, but was cut off when Hermione's father got to his feet. It seemed to startle everyone in the room.  
  
"You can't possibly marry this man, he's twice your age," he declared.  
  
"Dad-"  
  
"No, Hermione, listen to me. I forbid this to happen. You're seventeen years old, you're still in school. You can't possibly expect to have any sort of future if you marry now - much less if you marry one of your professors!" He had begun to pace, and his face had turned a brilliant shade of angry red. Hermione's mother had gone deathly pale.  
  
"Mum-"  
  
"Hermione, hush. And you!" He turned to Severus and took two steps closer to the couch. Hermione felt Severus stiffen in anticipation of a confrontation and nearly leapt to her feet herself. The last thing she had wanted was for this to turn out badly. "How many of your students have you attempted to seduce in the past? What makes you think you can get away with pushing yourself on our daughter? She's a child! And a very bright child at that! What kind of future do you think she's going to have if she gets married and starts a family now? It would be a complete waste of her talent!"  
  
"Dad, listen to me for just a moment, please!" Hermione had gotten to her feet as well. She felt a hand on her arm and was surprised to see that Severus was standing beside her.  
  
"I agree, Mister Granger," Severus said calmly, his smooth voice more calming than Hermione could have ever imagined it could possibly be. "Hermione has a very bright future ahead of her if things work in her favor. That is why we are engaged, to ensure that she is able to reach her full potential."  
  
"I'm afraid I don't follow," Hermione's father said flatly.  
  
"Mum, Dad," Hermione said, seizing the opportunity to jump back into the conversation. "You know that the wizarding world has been.in a bit of turmoil lately?"  
  
"Yes?" Hermione's mother sounded as though she were preparing herself for either a punchline or bad news.  
  
"One of the problems that our culture is facing is a thinning of bloodlines," Severus said. "Very old wizarding families, those who can trace their ancestors back for millinea, have a tendency to be selective when it comes to choosing partners. For so long, these families wanted to keep their bloodlines 'pure', and only married with other long-standing, pureblooded families."  
  
Hermione's mother's eyebrows came together. "Wouldn't that eventually cause all sorts of problems?"  
  
Hermione nodded, but Severus continued. "Precisely. The Ministry of Magic, in a misguided attempt to rectify the problems that have begun to arise, are requiring witches and wizards of pureblooded families to choose their spouse from those who come from muggle or 'mixed-blood' backgrounds."  
  
"Like Hermione."  
  
Hermione nodded again. "Like me."  
  
"Unfortunately, the Minister of Magic mishandled this as he has so many other things, and the law was written in such a manner that only the pureblooded wizards have any choice in the matter. Any muggle-born witch or wizard over the age of eighteen who receives a marriage proposal must marry."  
  
Hermione's mother gasped. The expression in her chocolate colored eyes showed that she understoof the gravity of the situation that her daughter was in.  
  
"But Hermione is only seventeen! She isn't old enough to be forced to marry yet, and there must be something that can be done!"  
  
Hermione shook her head. "No, Mum. The Ministry included the term I used the Time Turner to calculate my age, so they considered me eighteen several weeks ago. I received two offers immediately and the only way I can avoid having to marry is to leave the wizarding world forever."  
  
"You can always come home, sweetheart," her mother said softly.  
  
"Mum, you know I can't," Hermione replied, just as softly. Her mother's eyes welled with tears, but did not spill over.  
  
"Hermione received two offers immediately," Severus continued. "Both were from the sons of prominent Death Eaters." Hermione's parents both responded visibly to this news. She knew they didn't have a full grasp on what that meant, but she had told them enough for them to understand that it was a very bad thing. "Either choice would have, at the very least, dimmed her future considerably. Knowing the backgrounds of the young men who had petitioned for her hand in marriage, I can safely say that she would have likely been in grave physical danger as well." Hermione's mother paled again at this news.  
  
"So, in order to save Hermione from this fate, you proposed to her yourself?" Hermione's father sounded somewhat skeptical.  
  
Severus nodded. "In broad terms, yes. Hermione played a very large part in the success of the war against Voldemort, which would make her very valuable to the last vestiges of his followers. I used to be among them and know their tactics. I can stand against the Death Eaters and keep her safe."  
  
There was a heavy silence in the room. After a moment, Hermione's father resumed his seat. He was followed by Severus and, finally, Hermione.  
  
"Oh, sweetheart, we always hoped this would be such a happy occasion for you." Hermione's mother looked and sounded as though she were going to cry. Hermione felt a lump form in her own throat and wondered if she would be able to talk around it.  
  
"Mrs. Granger, I am well aware that I am far from the man your daughter would have chosen to marry if the situation were something other than what it is," Severus said, his voice taking on that foreign-sounding reassuring tone again. Hermione narrowly resisted the urge to ask him if he was feeling well. "I am not a pleasant man. But I can provide Hermione with a safe atmosphere. I can provide her with the opportunity to complete her schooling and to reach her full potential in the wizarding world. Given time, we should be able to exist quite tolerably with one another."  
  
"Hermione wil be able to complete her education at Hogwarts?" Her father looked and sounded a bit shell-shocked.  
  
"Yes, she will."  
  
"What about after Hogwarts?" her mother asked. "Hermione has always talked about continuing her education."  
  
"While I do not forsee leaving my position at Hogwarts at the end of the term when Hermione is finished with her schooling, there are several wizarding universities within Apparating distance. With Hermione's scores she should have no trouble getting into whichever one she chooses. Another option, should she choose to pursue it, would be to take on an Apprenticeship. Again, she is skilled enough to have options within that choice. I daresay that there are members of the Hogwarts staff who would gladly welcome her should she decide to continue her training without traveling someplace else."  
  
Hermione openly stared at Severus as he finished. The man sitting beside her on her parents sofa was a far cry from the man she thought she knew, from the man who took away house points without hesitation, assigned detentions with barely restrained glee and had never said a kind word to her before that very day.  
  
"Take care of her," Hermione's father said after another silent moment.  
  
"You have my word," Severus replied gravely. 


	6. Chapter Six On the Hogwarts Express

Title: On Marriage, Chapter Six - On the Hogwarts Express  
  
Summary: HG/SS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard - can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge.  
  
Disclaimers: I own none of it. Everything you recognize is owned by JK Rowling, her publishers or someone else, but not me. I'm just playing with the characters for a little bit. Please don't sue me; I have nothing. (And for anything I inadvertently lifted from someone else's fan fic, I profusely apologize. I've read so many and worked this idea over so many times I'm sure that I've added things without meaning to.)  
  
***************************  
  
Hermione felt somewhat better after the meeting with her parents. It had been an awkward afternoon, to be sure, but she had been left with the hope that her fiancé would not be spending the remainder of his life attempting to make the remainder of hers as miserable as possible. Considering their past, that was saying quite a lot.  
  
Since the bulk of the visit to her parents' house had been devoted to assuring them of the appropriateness of their decision, Hermione had hoped that she would have the chance to speak to Severus again when they were securely back at the house on Grimmauld Place. Once they Apparated into the library there, Hermione barely had the chance to comment that their visit had gone better than she'd expected when Severus grunted and said he had business back at Hogwarts. He Disapparated again almost immediately, leaving Hermione to answer the questions her friends had as to the outcome of their visit. She was surprised to admit that she found his sudden disappearance something of a disappointment.  
  
A week later, Hermione, Harry and the two youngest Weasleys were scrambling to get their things together for the beginning of the new school term. Hermione had, in fact, received the Head Girl badge and she pinned it nervously to her uniform while Ginny dashed around their bedroom, throwing the last of her things into her school trunk.  
  
Hermione rubbed her fingerprints off of the shiny badge, then pulled her hair back into a clip. She turned away from the mirror. "What do you think? Do I look like the Head Girl?"  
  
Ginny, who was kneeling on the floor in order to fish a shoe out from beneath her bed, looked up and smiled. "You look great, Hermione. Perfect for the job."  
  
There was a brief knock on the door and Ron stuck his head into the room.  
  
"Nice badge, Hermione," he grinned, making a point of polishing his own Prefect badge. He saw Ginny on the floor, shoe in hand, and looked startled. "Hurry up, Ginny. Mum says it's time to go."  
  
Hermione grabbed the last of her things and moved the door, Ginny limping behind, trying to get her foot into her shoe as they headed down the stairs.  
  
* * *  
  
As Head Girl, Hermione had no need to scramble to find herself a place to sit on the Hogwarts Express. She was tucked into a compartment with Ernie Macmillan, who had been selected as Head Boy, well away from the madness that encompassed finding a seat with her friends.  
  
The train had no sooner left the station than the Prefects began to arrive for their first meeting of the term. Ron and Ginny had stowed their luggage and arrived early, a fact that Hermione was grateful for when the Slytherins showed up in a tight, scowling knot.  
  
Draco Malfoy put a voice to his sneer as soon as he'd stepped through the door. "That's an interesting ring you're wearing, Mudblood," he sniped. He turned to his cronies and grinned evilly. "No one needs to ask how she got to be Head Girl." As a group, the Slytherins began whispering amongst themselves, shooting Hermione dark glances and punctuating their barely disguised remarks with mean laughter.  
  
Ron bristled and stepped forward, moving as though he was about to pull out his wand, but Ginny grabbed him by the arm and held him back. Draco laughed.  
  
"What's the matter, Weasley? Upset that your mudblood girlfriend didn't want to marry you?"  
  
"Why you-" Ron tried to wrench himself free of his sister's grasp, much to the amusement of Draco and his supporters. Ernie stepped forward.  
  
"That's quite enough of that, all of you," he said, in a commanding tone. Hermione decided right then that he had been an excellent choice for Head Boy. Ernie might have had a tendency towards being overly pompous, but he did get things done. "We have business to attend to here."  
  
With that, the meeting got under way. While Ernie discussed the duties of a Prefect - so that the newly-elected fifth year students would know what was expected of them and the returning Prefects could have a reminder - Hermione looked over the crowd. She was surprised and saddened to note that she was not the only girl wearing either an engagement or wedding band. Even one of the Slytherin boys had a ring on his finger. Idly, Hermione wondered how many of them were bound to other members of their group.  
  
A squabble in the hallway interrupted her musings on the subject and propelled the Prefects into action. Ginny and one of the returning Ravenclaw Prefects slipped out to break up the argument between several second year boys, while Ernie wrapped up the Prefects meeting. Hermione handed out the patrolling assignments as everyone trickled out of the compartment. She caught a few whispered comments as the Slytherins left but pointedly ignored them.  
  
Later, after the lunch cart had come and gone, Ernie said something about going to check on the Hufflepuff Prefects and slipped out of the compartment. Hermione pulled a book from her trunk, thinking it would be her last chance for leisure reading for the foreseeable future. Half a chapter into the book, she heard the door open. She glanced up, expecting to see Ernie again, but Ginny slipped into the small room and sat down across from her.  
  
"You handled the meeting very well, Hermione," she said.  
  
"Thanks, Ginny. It wasn't that much trouble; Ernie did most of the talking."  
  
Ginny smiled and shook her head. "I meant Malfoy. He and his snobby group of followers have already started harassing a lot of the students who have gotten caught up in this marriage business."  
  
Hermione grimaced. It made sense. Prior to the law, nothing had managed to pinpoint bloodlines quite so well. She felt horribly for any muggleborn Slytherins. At least everyone else could look forward to the respite of their own common room.  
  
"Hannah said she was cornered at the train station by a group of girls who said that the only reason she was still a Prefect was because she was engaged to the Head Boy."  
  
Hermione raised her eyebrows. Hannah Abbot and Ernie Macmillan were engaged? She quickly told herself that that particular bit of news shouldn't have been surprising. Hannah and Ernie had been close friends for years. If they were going to be forced to marry anyway, it had to be a relief for both of them to be in a situation where they already knew they were very comfortable with one another.  
  
"That's just foolish," Hermione said, very nearly giving an indignant snort. "Hannah has done well as a Prefect. Anyone with an ounce of sense knows that that's why she was invited back. I suppose it's going to be a difficult term for all of us, with accusations like that being thrown around."  
  
Ginny grinned at her friend.  
  
"At least anyone with half a brain knows that Snape wouldn't have bought you your Head Girl badge," she said.  
  
Hermione laughed. "He'd probably rather the title had gone to someone else, just to spare him the speculation," she agreed.  
  
Sounds of discord from the next compartment interrupted their conversation. Ginny sighed as she got to her feet again. "It sounds like the second year students are going to keep us quite busy this term."  
  
* * *  
  
As the Hogwarts Express neared the Hogsmeade station, Hermione didn't have a chance to give any doubtful whisperings about the origin of her badge a second thought. The group of second year boys had been a handful the entire train ride and it had taken constant supervision to keep an all-out dueling war from breaking out right there on the train.  
  
With Hogsmeade in sight, there were nervous first year students to corral, while keeping an eye on the Prefects, who were doing their best to keep everyone else organized and in line. Hermione was surprised by the amount of relief she felt when she'd successfully handed off the wide-eyed new students to Hagrid - who, almost surprisingly, had only good things to say about her impending marriage. That brought Severus right to the forefront of her mind and as she watched to make sure that all of the older students got into their carriages without incident, she found herself wondering if she was going to have the opportunity to speak with him anytime soon. He hadn't been back to Grimmauld Place since the day they'd visited her parents, and she hadn't received so much as one terse note.  
  
* * *  
  
Of course, she did get to see Severus that very evening. He was present at the feast, seated at the staff table and scowling down at the hall full of noisy and excited students. Hermione managed to catch his eye once, and received an almost imperceptible nod in acknowledgement as she took her seat at the Gryffindor table.  
  
Hermione watched the Sorting Ceremony with interest, applauding with the rest of her house when McGregor, Jessica and Prodmore, Phillip were sorted into Gryffindor. As soon as Zilker, Philomina took the last seat at the Gryffindor table, Dumbledore stood up and welcomed everyone back for the new term. Hermione was a bit thrown when his usual beginning of term speech included a slight adjustment. Dumbledore concluded his welcome by requesting that a list of students - all seventh years that he called by name - meet with Poppy Pomfrey directly after the feast. Even more surprising to Hermione was that her name was on that list.  
  
"What do you suppose that was all about?" Ron asked around a mouthful of glazed ham shortly after the feast began.  
  
Hermione frowned. "I can only imagine."  
  
'What it was all about' turned out to be birth control.  
  
When Hermione arrived in the hospital wing as requested, she very quickly became aware of the fact that all of the students present were either already married or had recently gotten engaged. Lavender and Seamus stood together, as did Ernie and Hannah. Mandy Brocklehurst and Justin Finch- Fletchley hovered near one another, and Hermione was surprised to note Susan Bones and Wayne Hopkins holding hands as they waited to see why they had all been called to speak with the mediwitch. Only Hermione and Daphne Greengrass seemed to be there without their respective partners.  
  
Madam Pomfrey stepped out of her office with a stern expression on her face. Dumbledore followed, looking mildly amused. The group of seventh year students looked nervously at one another.  
  
"You have probably noticed that everyone here this evening has been affected by the Ministry's new marriage law," the Headmaster began, taking a moment to meet the eye of each of the students. Hermione noted that his smile seemed quite sincere, which was enough to relieve the air of tension in the room. "You have all been called here this evening to discuss some.preventative measures that have been taken in light of that fact."  
  
"Preventative measures?" Hermione asked, taking the initiative and voicing the question that flashed across the faces of her classmates.  
  
"Preventative measures," Madam Pomfrey repeated shortly. "You have a year left of school with difficult classes and NEWTS to study for. The last thing any of you needs to worry about is a child."  
  
As a whole, the group of students blinked at her and turned various shades of pink as they studied the walls of the hospital wing or the tops of their shoes with a previously unseen air of fascination. Not even the married couples seemed able to make eye contact with one another. Dumbledore seemed to find this highly amusing.  
  
"At Madam Pomfrey's insistence, strong preventative charms have been cast over the married quarters," Dumbledore explained, continuing as though he were speaking to a rapt audience as opposed to a group of captive students. "She would like to verify that no one is currently expecting and will provide you all with an anti-pregnancy potion and some literature for you to look over. All of you will need to return once a month for another dose of the potion."  
  
The only response was an uncomfortable shuffling of feet.  
  
"Miss Greengrass, I have already received an official document from your fiancé verifying that you are not currently with child, so you may return to your dormitory as soon as you take the potion and pick up your paperwork," Madam Pomfrey said tersely. Daphne turned a brilliant shade of red and nodded. "Miss Abbot and Miss Brocklehurst are likewise excused. Take the potion and your paperwork and you are free to go. Gentlemen, you may leave once you've had your potions or stay and wait for your wives. Ladies, please follow me."  
  
With that, Madam Pomfrey turned on her heel and headed towards a sectioned- off area of the ward. The students blinked at one another and began to shuffle off in different directions, Lavender Brown-Finnegan and Susan Bones-Hopkins following Madam Pomfrey and everyone else moving towards a cart that held small vials of a blue potion and a stack of thick pamphlets. Only Hermione stood where she was.  
  
"Madam Pomfrey?" she called, halting the mediwitch's progress across the room. "I think there's been a mistake. I'm not married yet, either. May I be excused after taking the potion?"  
  
Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips together. "There has been no mistake Miss Granger. I required the presence of all engaged and married couples. Since your fiancé refused to attend or to accept the literature I have prepared, with the explanation that he was 'well aware of how it all works', I can only assume that you have already consummated your relationship and I must, therefore, verify that you are not currently pregnant."  
  
Hermione gasped in surprise, and felt a blush of anger creep over her. The way several of her classmates recoiled in horror at the thought of Hermione and their Potions Master together had not gone unnoticed, either.  
  
"Madam Pomfrey, I can assure you-" Hermione began. She was stilled by Dumbledore's hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Miss Granger, you have many arguments ahead of you in regards to your marriage," he said, just loud enough for Hermione to hear. "It might be best to let Madam Pomfrey win this round."  
  
Hermione clamped her jaws together so hard she instantly had a headache, but nodded at the Headmaster. Getting on the bad side of the staff, when she was about to become a staff member's wife, was probably not in her best interests, as infuriating as the situation might be. An angry flush still on her cheeks, Hermione stalked across the hospital wing and followed Madam Pomfrey and the two married girls behind the curtains at the far end of the room. 


	7. Chapter Seven First Day of Class

Title: On Marriage, Chapter Seven - First Day of Class  
  
Summary: HG/SS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard - can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge.  
  
Disclaimers: I own none of it. Everything you recognize is owned by JK Rowling, her publishers or someone else, but not me. I'm just playing with the characters for a little bit. Please don't sue me; I have nothing. (And for anything I inadvertently lifted from someone else's fan fic, I profusely apologize. I've read so many and worked this idea over so many times I'm sure that I've added things without meaning to.)  
  
A/N: For LindaLarry and anyone else who might have had the same concerns. You are absolutely right. Madame Pomfrey behaved badly - it was an inappropriate and rude reaction to a student who very obviously works quite hard to earn what she has. It was very unprofessional. But I couldn't tell the story any other way. My point: With the way I have chosen to tell this story, from Hermione's POV, it means that I am unable to explain some things that I know to be true. (In this instance, Pomfrey's acting poorly as a stress reaction to being forced to do something she thinks is wrong. Because, yes, it was a Ministry ruling.) It also leaves out quite a bit of what's happening with Severus. Because of that, I have decided that once this story is complete, there will - eventually - be an expanded version. That will allow me to show a lot more of what is actually happening, not just what Hermione sees and not filtered through her eyes. Hope that helps.  
  
***************************  
  
Hermione stalked down the corridor to the Head Girl's rooms, her jaw set and her eyes narrowed in annoyance. Her countenance was not much improved even when she saw Ginny waiting for her.  
  
"Hermione, are you all right?" Ginny asked, concern in her eyes.  
  
"I'll be fine," Hermione answered shortly. She glanced down the hallway. "Where are Harry and Ron?"  
  
Ginny smiled knowingly. "I ran into Mandy Brocklehurst on the way here and she told me what happened. I sent Harry and Ron away. Told them we'd be discussing girl things and they couldn't get away fast enough."  
  
Hermione almost smiled, and ushered Ginny into her new rooms. She hadn't even seen them yet herself.  
  
"Was it terrible?" Ginny asked, looking around what appeared to be the sitting room they had stepped into. Hermione's bedroom sat through an open archway on the far side of the room, Crookshanks asleep in an orange lump on the bed. Hermione stalked through the archway and looked around.  
  
"You'd think that sometime over the last thousand years of magical innovations, someone might have come up with a less intrusive, less humiliating way to determine if a woman is pregnant or not," she groused as she pulled off her outer robes and tossed them across her bed. She followed, falling across the bed and sighing. Ginny stifled a giggle, which earned her a glare from Hermione.  
  
"Did Professor Snape teach you how to do that?" she snickered, narrowly dodging the pillow that Hermione aimed at her head.  
  
* * *  
  
The following morning, Hermione found that she was actually somewhat nervous about going to class. She was well aware of the fact that gossip traveled like wild-fire through the corridors of Hogwarts and expected that, by breakfast, everyone would have heard what had happened in the infirmary the previous evening.  
  
A flash of irritation at Madame Pomfrey caused Hermione to yank her hairbrush through her hair with more force than was strictly necessary. Taming the knots and tangles into submission had something of a calming effect on Hermione, but her stomach was still feeling a little wobbly when she headed towards the Great Hall.  
  
It wasn't until she was caught up in a throng of first year Ravenclaws headed in to breakfast that she was able to admit to herself that she was feeling nervous about the prospect of seeing Severus. She would be sitting in his classroom in a matter of hours and couldn't help but wonder if it would feel different than any other day.  
  
A surreptitious glance towards the head table showed that Severus had skipped breakfast. It wasn't unusual, but Hermione felt a tiny bit disappointed. As unlikely as it would be for him to offer her any reassurance, his absence only reinforced her slightly unsteady feeling.  
  
Hermione had walked halfway down the length of the Gryffindor table when she became aware of the whispers that followed her. For just a moment she wondered if she was overacting. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face the Hufflepuff table, where several small knots of students hurriedly turned their attention back to their breakfasts. Hermione sighed and slipped into an empty seat between Ginny and Neville, her back to the rest of the hall, quite ready to abandon breakfast all together.  
  
"We heard what happened," Harry said, giving Hermione an apologetic look.  
  
"That hardly surprises me," Hermione replied, reaching for a slice of toast and buttering it mercilessly. Ginny gave her a reassuring smile.  
  
"That stupid git Malfoy's been telling anyone who'll listen," Ron growled around a mouthful of toast. "Story gets more outrageous every time he tells it. I heard a third year Gryffindor telling someone that you were having twins."  
  
Hermione nearly choked on a bite of toast. Ginny put a goblet of pumpkin juice in Hermione's hand and patted her back until she inhaled deeply, her natural coloring returning slowly.  
  
"So it is true then?" Neville asked, the color draining from his face. "You are going to marry Professor Snape?"  
  
Hermione nodded. "Yes, but that's probably the only bit of truth to whatever story Malfoy's spreading around."  
  
The arrival of the owl post cut off most conversation as the sound of wings filled the air. Students disappeared behind the pages of the Daily Prophet and a few scattered squeals announced the arrival of early care packages. Hermione unrolled her copy of the Daily Prophet after paying the owl that had delivered it and was skimming the front page when she felt a nibble on her finger. She peered over the top of the newspaper and saw a school owl waiting expectantly on her plate with a small scroll tied to it's leg. After relinquishing a sliver of toast she found herself owl-free, an unmarked letter in her hand.  
  
Ginny raised an eyebrow in question. Hermione shrugged and unrolled the scroll, recognizing the severe handwriting immediately.  
  
Miss Granger,  
  
Please arrange to remain after class this afternoon. We have things to discuss.  
  
SS  
  
Ignoring Ginny's raised eyebrow, Hermione excused herself from the table under the pretense of returning to her rooms for her school bag.  
  
* * *  
  
Double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs was almost excruciating. Professor Sprout was cheery as always and, for some reason, that morning it grated on Hermione's nerves. When Hannah Abbott asked three consecutive questions that Hermione knew had been covered in their fifth year lessons, she gritted her teeth and counted the minutes until the end of class.  
  
"What's wrong with you today?" Ron whispered when he noticed Hermione tapping the edge of her work bench impatiently. "I thought you liked Herbology."  
  
"Nothing. I'm fine," she hissed back, returning her attention to her work as Professor Sprout began to look for the source of the whispering. Ron gave Hermione a look that said he hadn't believed her, but he didn't ask again.  
  
Walking the corridors between Herbology and Potions, Hermione was unable to tell if several of her classmates were staying much closer to her than usual, or if it was just her imagination. Seamus and Lavender meandered between classes hand-in-hand, lost in a quiet conversation, but Hermione found herself sandwiched between not only Harry and Ron but Dean and Neville as well.  
  
"Look at those two," Dean said, shaking his head at Seamus and Lavender. "They've hardly spoken to anyone else since they've gotten married. Probably the only two people who are truly happy about that foolish law."  
  
"Sorry about that, mate," Ron said, clapping Dean on the shoulder. "He'll come round again once the novelty wears off."  
  
They had just reached the dungeon classroom when Hermione became certain that the Gryffindor boys had stayed so close for a reason. Draco Malfoy leaned casually against the wall of the corridor, surrounded by Crabbe and Goyle as usual. Hermione saw Ron's jaw set and felt Neville stiffen as though he expected a nasty confrontation.  
  
"How sweet," Draco drawled, pushing himself away from the wall with his goons so that they blocked the corridor. "The mudblood bride has a whole entourage of followers. You know it won't do you any good to follow her around, she's already taken. And she's already been taken from what I hear," he added with a derisive chortle.  
  
Hermione's cheeks burned. Ron growled and started to step forward, but Harry held him back. Crabbe and Goyle laughed and crossed their arms over their thick chests, effectively taking up even more space in the corridor.  
  
"Move aside and let us get to class, Malfoy," Hermione said, carefully controlling the anger in her voice.  
  
Draco snorted and gave a knowing glance to the ruffians beside him. "It must be true then. She didn't deny it."  
  
Harry's hand on Ron's arm aborted a second attempted leap forward, but was unable to stop Neville from pulling out his wand and leveling it between Draco's eyes. Everyone froze.  
  
"Take it back," Neville commanded.  
  
Draco's eyes widened in momentary surprise then, he put up his hands in surrender and smirked at Hermione. She had just enough time to wonder what he was up to before someone behind her cleared their throat. Severus.  
  
"What seems to be the problem?" he asked smoothly. Hermione noted that Crabbe and Goyle were grinning stupidly as the Gryffindors turned around as a group. Neville had gone completely white. Hermione fought the urge to cringe when Severus' eyes rested on her, but he quickly shifted his gaze to Draco. "Ten points from Gryffindor for failing to answer my question. Malfoy."  
  
"I don't know what happened, sir," Draco replied in his most innocent tones. "We congratulated Hermione on her engagement and were attacked. By the way, congratulations, sir. I hope you're very happy together."  
  
Severus crossed his arms over his chest and snorted. Hermione did cringe at that.  
  
"Forty points from Gryffindor for the display and, Longbottom, report for detention this evening."  
  
Neville nodded dumbly. Severus glared at the students still blocking the entrance to the classroom.  
  
"Class begins in thirty seconds. Unless you would like to lose ten points apiece, I would highly recommend taking your seats."  
  
Hermione was almost positive that Draco took as much time getting into the classroom as was possible without it being painfully obvious, but everyone managed to get into the classroom and seated without further loss of house points. 


	8. Chapter Eight After Class

Title: On Marriage, Chapter Eight - After Class  
  
Summary: HG/SS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard - can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge.  
  
Disclaimers: I own none of it. Everything you recognize is owned by JK Rowling, her publishers or someone else, but not me. I'm just playing with the characters for a little bit. Please don't sue me; I have nothing. (And for anything I inadvertently lifted from someone else's fan fic, I profusely apologize. I've read so many and worked this idea over so many times I'm sure that I've added things without meaning to.)  
  
***************************  
  
The first Potions class of the term did not go well. Between the early loss of house points and the air of disapproval that seemed to pervade the dungeon classroom, tensions ran high. This tension led to a general lack of attentiveness, which led to careless mistakes, which led to Severus losing his temper, which led to an even greater loss of house points. By the end of the hour, Severus stood at the front of the classroom, glowering at the seventh year students as though they were a group of insolent first years. Sitting beside Hermione, Neville was ghastly pale and looked as though he was about to begin trembling. Even Draco had retreated behind the relative safety of his textbook, not meeting his House Head's dark glare. Gryffindor had lost an additional fifty house points, and Severus had even docked points from Slytherin when Goyle made the mistake of snickering at the wrong moment. The room was deathly quiet as the last seconds of the hour ticked away.  
  
"Get out," Severus commanded. The room broke into a flurry of activity as everyone scrambled to pack up their books and quills and flee the classroom before any more points could be deducted. Hermione waved off the entourage of Gryffindor boys that seemed to be waiting for her and slowly put her things back into her school bag.  
  
Severus, who hadn't seemed to notice that she was lagging behind her classmates, sat down at his desk and rubbed at his temples, eyes closed. He groaned softly when the door closed behind the last Slytherin.  
  
Hermione sat quietly for a moment before clearing her throat. Severus' eyes flew open and Hermione noticed an instant of surprise in them before the familiar scowl reappeared. She wondered whether it was directed at her or himself.  
  
"You requested that I remain after class," she reminded him.  
  
Severus looked as though he was about to snap at her, but bit back whatever comment he had planned to make. Instead he reached into a pocket of his robes and held out a scroll. Hermione recognized the Ministry seal after having seen so much of it since her engagement. With a sigh of her own, she crossed to the desk at the front of the classroom and took the scroll from Severus. It was a reminder from the Ministry that they had until the end of the year to take their marriage vows and submit the appropriate paperwork. The Deputy of the Marriage Registry was requesting a signed letter of intent, one which posted a wedding date.  
  
"I suppose they think we're dawdling since we haven't filed proof of the marriage yet," she said bitterly.  
  
"More than likely." Severus had returned to massaging his temples. "I recommend choosing a date that falls in the Christmas holiday."  
  
Hermione blinked. "I have a choice?"  
  
Severus kept his hands on his temples, but opened his eyes to look at her. His expression was unreadable. "Yes, Miss Granger, you have a choice." The statement was curt, but did not hold quite the venom that Hermione had expected. "You can choose an earlier date if you wish, but I would think that choosing a date during the early part of the holiday would cause the least amount of disruption for both of us."  
  
Hermione nodded. The statement was logical. Choosing a date that fell in the early part of the holiday would allow both of them to concentrate on their respective classes during term, and give them some time to adjust to each other before having to return to classes. The realization that she would be married by Christmas struck Hermione as odd, but she tried to shake away the thought as quickly as it occurred to her.  
  
"The first Saturday of the holiday?" she suggested. "I'd like for some of my friends to be there," she added.  
  
Severus acknowledged both the suggestion and statement with a slight nod of his own. He reclaimed the Ministry scroll, jotted down the date and signed beneath it. Hermione signed beside his name and, once again, the scroll disappeared with a soft 'pop'.  
  
As Hermione returned Severus' quill to it's holder, he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. She straightened up and looked wearily at him. Neither his stance nor his facial expression boded well.  
  
"Now maybe you'd care to tell me what I interrupted in the corridor?" he asked, his silky voice offering no room for argument.  
  
Hermione felt her jaw clench and she forced herself to take a deep breath. Her nerves were still raw from the previous evening and she knew that, with as raw as his own nerves seemed to be, Severus would not hesitate to take even more points from Gryffindor if she lost her temper.  
  
"You interrupted a charming little piece of fiction by Malfoy," she replied tersely.  
  
Severus arched an eyebrow. "Go on."  
  
Hermione felt herself pink somewhat as she spoke, though she was unable to say if it was embarrassment at having to relate Draco's stories or her growing anger over the whole situation. Both, more than likely.  
  
"At the point you stepped in, Malfoy was musing on the physical aspect of our relationship."  
  
Severus' eyebrow rose slightly higher and was accompanied by a snort. It was enough to push Hermione's anger over the edge. She felt her face flush as she fought the torrent of words that wanted to escape from her lips. Had she been younger, she might have stamped her foot.  
  
"You might find this amusing, but I certainly don't," she said emphatically. "Malfoy's stories have been getting wilder and wilder as they've been passed around. This morning at breakfast I found out that we're expecting twins! Imagine my surprise. Merlin only knows what they'll be saying by dinner." She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned.  
  
"I would have expected Hermione Granger, Head Girl to be able to stand up better under the weight of a little gossip." Severus' tone was clearly mocking, and not at all in a friendly manner.  
  
Hermione's jaw almost dropped. "A little gossip?" she spluttered. "You didn't bother to go to the hospital wing last night. With the way Madame Pomfrey reacted, you might as well have put up a flashing sign in the great hall that said we were having sex!"  
  
Severus pushed himself from his chair, his face darkening. "Twenty points from Gryffindor. May I remind you, Miss Granger, that you are speaking to a professor."  
  
Hermione made a noise of frustration and disgust. "And, at the risk of losing Gryffindor even more points, may I remind you, Professor, that am speaking to my fiancé?" Her eyes flashed, daring him to respond poorly.  
  
Severus recrossed his arms over his chest and gave her a dark look. Neither blinked.  
  
"Do you have any idea what she put me through?" Hermione demanded, her voice sounding almost calm although her emotions were still roiling.  
  
"I understand that it might have given you a moments discomfort."  
  
Hermione released a frustrated sigh. "That and more public speculation into our relationship than I doubt either one of us was really looking forward to having." She paused for a moment before deciding to go ahead and ask the question she'd been wondering. "Why didn't you come? It would have taken just a moment and spared us both a lot of embarrassment."  
  
"Because I neither need nor desire a sexual education speech from a school mediwitch. I am quite aware of how the various parts fit together and how such a pairing can result in a child. As I am also the person Poppy Pomfrey comes to when she needs contraceptives for students, I would think that proves that I am quite capable of brewing what I need for myself when necessary."  
  
They exchanged dark looks again.  
  
"It was humiliating," Hermione said after a moment, even though she realized it was a lame argument.  
  
Severus snorted again. "As was discovering that most of my coworkers have labeled me a 'lecherous old man'."  
  
Hermione blinked. It hadn't occurred to her that Severus might be faced with his own version of the same problem.  
  
"I would have thought that Dumbledore would have explained."she began. He cut her off with a dismissive wave of his hand.  
  
"There is quite a lot that you neither know nor understand about me, Miss Granger. Do not presume to."  
  
Hermione was stung by the comment.  
  
Severus returned his attention to his desk, shuffling through a short stack of paperwork. "You may go, Miss Granger. I imagine Potter and Weasley are beginning to worry." He had not looked back up.  
  
"Yes, sir," Hermione murmured, still feeling somewhat off-balance. She returned to her workbench to reclaim her bag and moved towards the door. With one hand on the latch, she paused and looked back at Severus, who now appeared to be completely immersed in his work.  
  
"Professor - Severus?"  
  
He looked up, an eyebrow arched at her use of his given name. "Yes?"  
  
"Do you have time to meet with me this weekend? We can both get rid of some presumptions."  
  
His expression was unreadable again. "Saturday afternoon."  
  
Hermione nodded and slipped out of the classroom. 


	9. Chapter Nine Getting to Know You

Title: On Marriage, Chapter Nine - Getting to Know You  
  
Summary: HG/SS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard - can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge.  
  
Disclaimers: I own none of it. Everything you recognize is owned by JK Rowling, her publishers or someone else, but not me. I'm just playing with the characters for a little bit. Please don't sue me; I have nothing. (And for anything I inadvertently lifted from someone else's fan fic, I profusely apologize. I've read so many and worked this idea over so many times I'm sure that I've added things without meaning to.)  
  
***************************  
  
Saturday came faster than Hermione expected. To steel her nerves, which were suddenly as jangled as they had been before breakfast earlier in the week, she had spent the morning in Hogsmeade, tending to errands that weren't nearly as important as she was pretending them to be. Back in her rooms earlier than she'd intended to be, she fiddled with the new quills she'd bought, alphabetized her bookshelves and rearranged her sock drawer.  
  
When she caught herself worrying about what to wear, she stopped halfway to her closet and placed her hands on her hips.  
  
"Now you're just being silly," she chastised herself.  
  
It had been too nice of a day to want to bundle up in layers of robes, so Hermione had gone to Hogsmeade in the same dress she had worn when visiting her parents. It was just a casual thing but, being a dress, she felt that she looked nice. That would have to suffice. She did take a moment to pull her hair back, as it had gotten a bit unruly while she was out, but that was the only adjustment she allowed herself to make.  
  
Hermione was halfway to the dungeons when she realized that Severus hadn't specified where she was to meet him. She headed towards the Potions classroom first, assuming that he would either be there or in his office.  
  
The classroom door was locked, and there was no response to her knock. She continued down the dark corridor, making the few necessary turns to get to the Potions Master's office. Severus opened the door and stepped out as she rounded the last corner. He had closed and warded the door before realizing that she was approaching. When he looked up, she twitched a small smile, not knowing what sort of a reaction to expect from him.  
  
"I was beginning to think that you had forgotten about our meeting," he said, not cruelly.  
  
"I wasn't sure where you would be," she said. "I went to the classroom first."  
  
He nodded slightly, and stepped towards Hermione, then continued past her down the corridor. She had to take several long strides to catch up with him, and followed silently until he turned down a corridor that she had never been down before. Hermione had been under the impression that they were returning to the classroom.  
  
"Pardon me, but where are we going?"  
  
Severus continued walking without breaking his pace or looking down at her. "To my private quarters. You'll need to know where they are and this is a sensible time for you to see them."  
  
A bit surprised, Hermione managed a noncommittal noise and a nod. Severus sighed, as he might have if she'd asked him to repeat the steps for brewing a third year potion.  
  
"You thought we would be residing in the married dormitory with your classmates after the Christmas holiday?" he asked, the sound of a sneer becoming more evident in his voice. "I have been living in my quarters for very nearly twenty years and I have no intention of vacating them now, Miss Granger."  
  
Hermione felt herself blush, although she knew she had thought no such thing. The idea of cramming the Potions Master into a standard sized dorm room, surrounded on either side by eighteen-year-old newlyweds, was an absurd picture. But she hadn't quite pictured herself packing up the Head Girl's room and moving her things into the dungeon, either.  
  
* * *  
  
Hermione's first glimpse of Severus' rooms was nothing short of a surprise. They seemed quite spacious, which she'd somewhat expected. And they were quite cozy, which she never would have imagined.  
  
"This is.lovely," she said as she followed Severus through the door and into a sitting room. He grunted as Hermione took a moment longer to take in her surroundings.  
  
A large mantelpiece took up the majority of the space along one wall. It was surrounded by shelves, nicely filled with an assortment of books and items that she imagined had been collected over a number of years. In front of the fireplace was a small sofa, flanked on either side by comfortable looking chairs. Three additional doors led to other rooms.  
  
Through one open doorway, Hermione could see what appeared to be Severus' personal office. She caught a glimpse of a large desk and shelf upon shelf of thick, aged texts. Parchments scattered across the surface of the desk suggested that the room was not just for show or book storage.  
  
The second door led to what looked like a workroom. Hermione assumed that the locked cabinets held potion supplies - whatever Severus would need for his personal brewing and, more than likely, the items that were too expensive or too dangerous to leave in the classroom storage areas. Severus had a long table set up in the center of the room, a cauldron simmering on one end. That and several sheets of parchment on a counter suggested that this room was also put to functional use.  
  
The third door opened into Severus's bedroom. It was the most lavish of the rooms, filled as it was with a tall four-poster bed and an armoire wider than any Hermione had ever seen before. The bed draperies were, unsurprisingly, a deep green color, so dark they were almost black. The only reason Hermione was able to ascertain their color was because of the sunlight glinting through two long windows.  
  
Hermione blinked.  
  
"Windows?" she asked, her brow furrowed. "I thought we were beneath the lake."  
  
"We are," Severus answered, stepping deeper into the room. "The bedroom windows are possible due to a clever bit of magic that replaces one wall of my quarters with a wall in as unused portion of the castle."  
  
"Impressive." Hermione nodded appreciatively and followed Severus. He motioned for her to sit on the sofa.  
  
"Would you care for something to drink, Miss Granger? Tea?"  
  
"Yes, please," Hermione answered without thinking. She'd been so blind- sided by his hospitality that it did not strike her as odd until after she'd already answered the question. Severus moved about the room, deftly putting together the items he needed and, in just a moment, had placed a tea pot over the fire to boil. He placed himself in one of the two chairs and they regarded each other in silence.  
  
"You are here to shatter presumptions, I presume, Miss Granger," Severus said eventually. "While I caution you that there are subjects we will not discuss, where would you like to begin?"  
  
Hermione sighed, the sound not unlike Severus' own long-suffering sigh. "How about with our names?" she said. "This would more than likely be much less stressful for both of us if you could please just relax."  
  
He gave her a dark look and was thin-lipped. "As you wish. Continue." Hermione shifted in her seat and tried to think of the best place to begin. Severus noted the hesitation and smirked. "No list of questions, Miss Gra- Hermione? I would have expected you to be more prepared."  
  
Hermione flushed, at both her slight embarrassment and what she perceived to be a hint of humor on his part. The question had certainly not been as pointed or harsh as it might have been in a classroom setting.  
  
"I had, but then I thought that would make this seem more of an interview. I had hoped it might be a bit more casual than that. And I didn't imagine you would be much interested in reading a sixteen inch essay on the summary of my life thus far."  
  
Severus arched an eyebrow and nodded. "You are correct." Hermione was trying to determine if this statement should upset her when he spoke again. "Conversation is preferable to an interview."  
  
She smiled slightly, far from comfortable, but getting marginally closer. She was thrown a bit off-balance when Severus abruptly got to his feet.  
  
"Your questions?" he prompted again.  
  
Hermione took a deep breath and began. "What is your name?"  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"Your name."  
  
"You know my name."  
  
"I know your first and last names," Hermione corrected. "Do you have a middle name?"  
  
Severus grimaced slightly. "Yes," he said after a moment. "Aurelius." The corner of Hermione's mouth twitched, but she managed to keep from smiling. The glare she received from Severus helped her to keep a straight face.  
  
"Do you have any siblings?"  
  
"No. I was an only child."  
  
Hermione nodded. "Are your parents still alive?"  
  
"No."  
  
She paused. "Oh. I'm sorry." Severus waved his hand dismissively. "What were they like?"  
  
Another pause. Severus seemed to consider his words carefully. "I imagine that, at one time, they were both vital people with hopes and dreams of their own. By the time I knew them, they had been forced into an unhappy marriage and grown resentful of one another."  
  
Hermione made a soft noise of compassion, only to be waved off again.  
  
"Once my mother had produced an heir as was expected of her, she wanted nothing more to do with father. They spent very little time together when I was a child. I remember my mother as a melancholic woman who spent much of her time in her rooms. My father was distant and a strict disciplinarian."  
  
Hermione blinked. She didn't have a good idea of exactly what she should say, or if he would allow her complete a thought on the subject before waving her off again.  
  
"My parents, in a word," Severus summed up.  
  
"Is that why you joined the Death Eaters?" Hermione asked quietly.  
  
Severus' dark glare was a dangerous thing. Hermione cringed ever so slightly into the back of the sofa, waiting for him to growl that that was a question he was not going to answer. He seemed to change his mind even as his mouth opened to reprimand her, surprising them both.  
  
"Possibly," he conceded. "It was a factor, at any rate."  
  
"May I ask you more about your time with the Death Eaters?" Hermione asked tentatively.  
  
The fierce look returned just as quickly as it had disappeared. "No, you may not."  
  
Hermione nodded and swallowed, scrambling for another line of questioning. It occurred to her that it might not have been such a horrible thing to bring a list of questions after all. She might have been able to conceal them so that it would not have been painfully obvious that she was reading them from a slip of parchment.  
  
The boiling of the tea pot captured the attention of both of them and Severus returned to the fire. He poured the hot liquid into two tea cups and handed one to Hermione.  
  
"Thank you," she murmured, wrapping her hands around the cup. Severus returned to his seat.  
  
"Continue."  
  
Hermione blinked and refocused her thoughts. She had a question half- formed when another occurred to her. She smiled slightly.  
  
"You haven't asked any questions yet," she pointed out instead of asking where he'd lived while growing up.  
  
"I have read your student file and met your parents," he answered. "There is very little, factually, that I do not know about you. The rest will come with time."  
  
Hermione nodded, more uncomfortable than she cared to admit with that particular bit of information.  
  
"I even know your middle name," Severus smirked. The tea cup halfway to her lips, Hermione grinned. 


	10. Chapter Ten Planning

Title: On Marriage, Chapter Ten - Planning  
  
Summary: HG/SS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard - can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge.  
  
Disclaimers: I own none of it. Everything you recognize is owned by JK Rowling, her publishers or someone else, but not me. I'm just playing with the characters for a little bit. Please don't sue me; I have nothing. (And for anything I inadvertently lifted from someone else's fan fic, I profusely apologize. I've read so many and worked this idea over so many times I'm sure that I've added things without meaning to.)  
  
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Hermione spent the better part of Saturday in Severus' sitting room and had to admit that it had not been entirely unpleasant. He had finally seemed to relax slightly and, after the remark about his knowing her middle name, so had she. She was very aware of the fact that she was a visitor in what would become her own apartment before too long, but knew it would take some time getting used to that particular thought.  
  
She ended up leaving Severus' quarters with just enough time to make it to dinner.  
  
"Where have you been, Hermione?" Harry demanded as she took her seat. "We looked all over for you."  
  
"Oh," she said in an off-hand manner. "I was with Severus." There was a slight pause as her friends looked at one another.  
  
"All day?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Who?" Ron asked pointedly.  
  
Hermione sighed. "Fine. I was with Professor Snape." That seemed to make everyone within earshot relax. "And yes, for several hours. Honestly," Hermione grumbled, reaching for her water goblet. "We are going to be married. You might want to get used to the idea."  
  
"Are you used to the idea?" Ginny asked, sounding a bit surprised.  
  
Hermione considered the question. "Not entirely, no. But it's not as though I can run away every time I see him and pretend it isn't going to happen because it is. I might as well make the best of the situation."  
  
* * *  
  
Several days later, at breakfast, an owl arrived with a rather thick parcel from Hermione's mother. The note attached said only that she hoped Hermione would find the package useful. At Ginny's insistence, and with quite a few onlookers, Hermione peeled off the outer wrapping of the package and then blushed.  
  
"What is it?" Ron asked, nibbling on a strip of bacon as he tried to catch a glimpse of the contents of the package.  
  
Ginny leaned over the table and began to giggle. "It's a wedding magazine."  
  
"They have magazines for that?" Ron asked, appearing genuinely surprised.  
  
"In the muggle world, yes," Hermione answered. She finished peeling away the paper wrapping to reveal a second magazine and a slim book on wedding etiquette. Ginny giggled again.  
  
"Well," Hermione said, a bit surprised to see what she held in her hands. "I suppose Mum has gotten used to the idea of my getting married."  
  
Hermione had tucked the etiquette book and magazines into her school bag and didn't think about them again until she got to the Potions classroom. The sight of Severus brought them to mind again, but she pushed away the idea of telling him what her mother had sent. Somehow, she didn't much expect him to care.  
  
"Miss Granger, stay behind," he said an hour later as the remainder of the class spilled out into the hallway. Hermione nodded and ignored a quiet verbal jab from a nearby Slytherin as she put her things away.  
  
"What, precisely, is the meaning of this?" Severus asked. He had gone to his desk and removed something from a desk drawer. Hermione couldn't tell what he was holding and took several steps towards him before she was able to make out a picture of a man in a tuxedo on the front of a glossy magazine. She bit her lip to stifle a laugh. Severus did not seem in the least bit amused.  
  
"From my mum?" she asked, unnecessarily.  
  
Severus looked at her suspiciously. "Yes, it is."  
  
She nodded. "I thought it might be. I got two." She slipped the two, much thicker, magazines out of her bag and dropped them onto the desk beside her. Severus took one look at the white clad young women on the front and curled his entire face into a trademark sneer.  
  
"I know," Hermione said quickly, before he could say something disparaging about her mother. "They're awful. I think it's my mother trying to come to terms with this. She thinks she's helping."  
  
"All of.this.is necessary for a muggle wedding?" Severus asked, dropping what turned out to be a tuxedo catalog beside the wedding magazines.  
  
Hermione nodded. "Most people think so, yes." She was a bit surprised when Severus picked up one of the magazines and began flipping through it.  
  
"Most muggles think the success of their marriage depends on their choice of a china pattern?" he asked with disdain, pointing to what appeared to be a rather lengthy article on the importance of choosing everyday china.  
  
Hermione grimaced. "I suppose some of them do."  
  
He grunted, flipping a few more pages. "These women look like pastries."  
  
Hermione laughed. "Yes."  
  
Severus put the magazine down and regarded her seriously. Hermione shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.  
  
"What is it?" she asked after a moment.  
  
"Do you.want all of this?" he asked, waving a hand at a glossy picture of a smiling bride holding an insane amount of brightly colored flowers while standing in front of a tiered tower of sugar. Hermione was surprised to note that there was no evident sneer in the question, for as much as he seemed to dislike the idea himself.  
  
"No," she answered honestly. He seemed to visibly relax. "At least not much of it."  
  
Severus raised an eyebrow. "Explain."  
  
"I've never really pictured myself attempting to become a fairie princess on my wedding day," she said, which earned her another raised eyebrow. "I rather hoped for a handfasting instead of a traditional muggle ceremony, and a small gathering of friends instead of inviting everyone I've ever known."  
  
"That would be preferable," Severus murmured. Hermione continued as though he hadn't spoken.  
  
"The frilly dress I can live without, though I would prefer to be married in white." She shrugged. "Call it a muggle hang-up if you will. I'd like for my parents to be present and for there to be flowers, though preferably something more natural looking than arrangements like that." She nodded at the picture Severus still held in his hand. "Other than that, it doesn't really matter to me."  
  
Severus dropped the magazine and nodded. "All reasonable requests."  
  
A thought occurred to Hermione and she felt her brow crinkle as she pondered the question. Severus seemed to notice that she had something to say and watched her expectantly.  
  
"Who will perform the ceremony?" she asked. "I don't recall the Ministry paperwork designating anyone. Does that mean we can choose someone ourselves?"  
  
"The Headmaster can perform the ceremony," Severus answered. "If you'd like, I can speak with him about it this evening."  
  
Hermione smiled. That was better news than she'd been expecting. She certainly liked the idea of Dumbledore performing the handfasting rather than a random Ministry worker who didn't know either one of them.  
  
"That would be wonderful, thank you."  
  
Severus nodded slightly. Then he sighed and gave the wedding magazines a disdainful look. "Now, get those out of my sight," he said, waving his hand at them as though he hoped they would just disappear.  
  
Hermione laughed and packed the magazines back into her bag. "I'll owl my mother and let her know of our plans. As far as I know, there are no handfasting magazines available where she shops."  
  
The corner of Severus' mouth twitched upwards, but he only made a noncommittal noise and ushered Hermione out of the classroom. 


	11. Chapter Eleven Wedding Plans

Title: On Marriage, Chapter Eleven – Wedding Plans  
  
Summary: HG/SS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard – can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge.  
  
Disclaimers: I own none of it. Everything you recognize is owned by JK Rowling, her publishers or someone else, but not me. I'm just playing with the characters for a little bit. Please don't sue me; I have nothing. (And for anything I inadvertently lifted from someone else's fan fic, I profusely apologize. I've read so many and worked this idea over so many times I'm sure that I've added things without meaning to.)  
  
A/N: For those of you who have been waiting so patiently for this update, I can't apologize enough for taking so long with it. Real life got a bit out of hand for a few weeks. The next update shouldn't take nearly as long. With that sentiment though, I wanted to point out that because I was so antsy to get this posted, I bypassed by beta. All mistakes are mine and due to my own impatience.  
  
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Dumbledore agreed quite happily to perform the handfasting and, as it turned out, the date that Severus and Hermione had chosen was scheduled to be a busy day for Ministry weddings. Three were taking place at Hogwarts alone: Hermione to Severus, Hannah Abbot to Ernie Macmillian, and Daphne Greengrass to Adrian Pucey, a Slytherin who had left Hogwarts two years earlier. After a brief consultation with all of those involved, Dumbledore announced that there would be three separate ceremonies, followed by a large reception in the Great Hall for all of the newlyweds.  
  
"Trust Albus Dumbledore to turn any event into cause for mass celebration," Severus had growled after the announcement had been made, but Hermione was somewhat heartened by the news. At least it gave her the comfort of knowing she would have the opportunity to spend some time with the people who mattered the most to her, on what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life.  
  
Hannah Abbot, upon hearing of the package Hermione had received from her mother, was kind enough to take the wedding magazines off of Hermione's hands. She and Ernie were apparently planning the Wedding To End All Weddings, and doing it Muggle-style. While she cringed inwardly at this news, Hermione was not at all sorry to see the glossy magazines disappear into Hannah's school bag. And she made a mental note to thank the Headmaster for planning three separate ceremonies. Three brides or, rather, three Mother-of-the-Brides trying to plan one common ceremony was a scarier thought than anything else Hermione could come up with..  
  
Her own mother had accepted the news of the handfasting with a surprising amount of grace. She still insisted on going dress shopping, which Hermione agreed to submit herself to with the understanding that Ginny would come along and that after spending time in Muggle London, they would then visit a specialty shop in Diagon Alley. Ginny had already managed to procure a pamphlet from the Diagon Alley shop and there was a picture of a very simple, but very pretty gown that Hermione couldn't wait to see.  
  
Wedding Dress Day, as Ginny had taken to calling it, came a little sooner than Hermione was prepared for. She and Ginny flooed to the Leaky Cauldron from the Headmaster's office shortly before the shops were scheduled to open, and barely had enough time to order a mug of hot chocolate apiece before Hermione's mother arrived and hauled them out to the street. Ginny chuckled when she saw the neatly written list of shops that Margaret Granger pulled from inside her pocketbook.  
  
"Now I know where you get it from," she whispered to Hermione as they headed down the street to the first of the shops. She was awarded with a tight-lipped, already tired looking, glare.  
  
By the time they stopped for lunch five hours later, Hermione was positively frazzled. Even Ginny looked worn out, and she hadn't been the one who'd spent all morning being shuffled into and out of voluminous gowns of satin and tulle by people she'd never met before. Margaret Granger seemed a bit put out that Hermione had nixed every one of the gowns she'd been coaxed into trying on, always siting some frivolous-sounding complaint – the lack of sleeves, the shape of the skirt, the use of color. ("Who in their right mind would wear a wedding dress with scarlet accents?" she had asked at one point. "You'd think the dress designers, at least, would remember what a white gown is supposed to signify.")  
  
"If I see one more iridescent bead or sequin today, I might just scream," Hermione groaned, sliding into a booth at the restaurant they had chosen. Her feet hurt, her hair was in disarray from having removed her shirt so many times and she was fairly sure she had almost put her shoes on the wrong feet when she'd gotten dressed at the last store.  
  
"You're right, sweetheart," her mother sighed, sounding more than a little defeated. "Maybe we should spend some time looking at bridesmaid's dresses since Ginny is with us."  
  
Ginny looked sharply up from her menu, her expression that of a deer caught in headlights.  
  
Hermione fought the urge to chuckle at her panic-stricken friend, instead shaking her head at her mother. "What good will it do to look at ten thousand bridesmaids dresses before I've chosen a wedding dress? We could choose something only to have the style be all wrong later."  
  
"We haven't seen anything at all that didn't make you scowl," Hermione's mother countered. "I'm beginning to think you never will choose a gown."  
  
"There's still a shop on Diagon Alley," Ginny suggested hopefully.  
  
"True," Margaret Granger conceded, finally opening her own menu. "We'll look there first." Ginny sagged in visible relief.  
  
The saleswitch in Diagon Alley was surprisingly helpful, Hermione thought. At least she knew about the absurd Ministry law and didn't feel the need to comment on Hermione's age, as most of the salesclerks in the Muggle shops had when she'd asked about bridal gowns instead of party dresses. She led Hermione first to a rack of some of the most popular wedding robes. Given the ages of the brides in recent months, most of them were quite fashionable in design.  
  
"Did you have an idea of what you were looking for?" she asked when Hermion summarily dismissed a section of Muggle-inspired creations encrusted in beading and lace.  
  
"Somewhat," Hermione replied, digging the picture that Ginny had found out of her pocket. "I'm not sure if the style will suit, but it's got to be better than...that." She waved a flustered hand in her mother's direction. Margaret Granger had pulled what looked like a puffed-sleeve, Civil War-era gown from the rack and was holding it up for Ginny's inspection. Ginny had flushed and seemed to be trying to find a polite way to saying that it looked horrid.  
  
"Ah," the saleswitch smiled knowingly. She took the proffered picture and led Hermione to another rack of gowns. "Try this one," she suggested, pulling one from the group and ushering Hermione to the fitting rooms. "Don't worry about the size. It will refit itself when you put it on."  
  
Hermione disappeared behind the changing room curtain, thankfully alone, and began to disrobe. She slipped into a wedding robe, which was made of the softest ivory silk she'd ever seen, and felt it reshape itself around her.  
  
"Oh!" she gasped, looking at herself in the fitting room mirror.  
  
"It's lovely, dear," the mirror crooned. "Looks like it was made for you."  
  
"I agree," Hermione said, turning around and looking over her shoulder so she could get a look at the back of the dress.  
  
"Did you find something, sweetheart?" Margaret Granger asked from the other side of the changing room curtain.  
  
"Yes," Hermione called happily. "My wedding dress!" 


	12. Chapter Twelve The Final Steps

Title: On Marriage, Chapter Twelve – The Final Steps  
  
Summary: HG/SS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard – can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge.  
  
Disclaimers: I own none of it. Everything you recognize is owned by JK Rowling, her publishers or someone else, but not me. I'm just playing with the characters for a little bit. Please don't sue me; I have nothing. (And for anything I inadvertently lifted from someone else's fan fic, I profusely apologize. I've read so many and worked this idea over so many times I'm sure that I've added things without meaning to.)  
  
A/N: Points to fanficassasin and jewelwhisperer for noting that my Yank was showing in the last chapter. Yes, you are absolutely right. I was thinking of the American Civil War. This is why I should know better than to post chapters without sending them to my beta first.  
  
And, for all of you, thank you for waiting so patiently for this update. I really appreciated hearing from so many of you while I was embroiled in real life. I hope the next chapters will have been worth the wait!  
  
Un-beta-ed. Mistakes mine.  
  
Surprising even herself, Hermione's wedding gown took a place of honor when she returned with it to her rooms. She had placed it outside her tall wardrobe, initially because she was afraid of wrinkling it beyond recognition. It didn't seem to matter that the logical part of her brain knew that the dress had been charmed to hang beautifully when it was on, no matter if it had been wadded into a ball just before-hand or not. To be honest, Hermione was a little bit afraid of examining that decision too closely. She was afraid that she might find a little illogical part of herself that had been dreaming about a fantasy wedding, no matter how much she actually thought such things were nonsense.  
  
Ginny seemed unsurprised, though she was smart enough not to comment on the gown. Harry and Ron, however, seemed a bit more unsettled then Hermione thought was strictly necessary.  
  
"Can't you put that thing away?" Ron had muttered when he saw it. "People will think you want to marry that git."  
  
Hermione had scowled and closed the partition between her bedroom and her sitting room, though her mood lightened somewhat when Harry complimented her on her choice and then deftly changed the subject to a topic that wasn't nearly so touchy.  
  
Ron apparently complained elsewhere, though, because Hermione found herself on more than one occasion with odd visitors – girls of the giggling variety who stopped by to see the dress. In most instances, Hermione would sigh and point across the room to the dress, stand there long enough for the snickers and giggling to cease and then ask if any of the girls had stopped by for anything important. That usually got rid of them fairly quickly.  
  
One particular evening near Halloween brought seemingly every last female student in the fourth through seventh years to view the dress. Hermione and Ginny had holed up in the Head Girl's rooms to try and get a little studying done outside of the noisy common room and kept getting interrupted. A gushing and long-winded visit from excited bride-to-be Hannah Abbot had left Hermione irritated and on edge.  
  
"I swear, if one more person comes to look at that stupid dress tonight..." Hermione began as she settled back down into the chair she had been occupying when not having to answer the door.  
  
Ginny muffled a snicker as someone else knocked on the door at that precise moment.  
  
With a near growl, Hermione threw her quill down once again and stalked to the door. "There's the stupid dress, take a good look at it," she snapped as she yanked the door open. She barely had enough time to place her hand on her hip in a picture of irritation before she gasped and jumped away from the open door looking completely cowed.  
  
"I fail to see what all the excitement is about," Severus said coolly from the corridor, "Especially if this is how you typically treat those who stop by your quarters. Had we known this was how you handled yourself publicly, Miss Granger, the staff might have voted someone else into the position of Head Girl."  
  
Hermione felt her cheeks burn and she tucked her hair behind her ear self- consciously.  
  
"It's been a frustrating evening," she said lamely.  
  
"Then put the dress away," Severus replied, his tone suggesting that he was speaking to a small and stupid child. "If there's nothing to look at, no one will come." Hermione felt the color rise in her cheeks again and tried not to scowl.  
  
The shuffling of parchment deeper in the room seemed to catch the attention of both Hermione and Severus. Ginny had gathered up her books and study materials and inched closer to the room's only exit.  
  
"Thanks for your help, Hermione. I'll see you tomorrow." She offered Hermione a smile and ducked through the doorway with a nod and a murmured "Good evening, Professor," for Severus.  
  
Hermione nodded and watched Ginny go, a little irritated that she was stuck studying alone for the rest of the evening. Not that that typically bothered her at all, but it was kind of nice to spend a few moments with someone who didn't care one whit about the dress that was hanging on the wardrobe door.  
  
Of course, it appeared that Hermione had that in Severus, who was now looking at her expectantly. She shook her head slightly and took a step further into the room.  
  
"Pardon me." She knew Severus had probably given her another black mark on his mental 'public relations skills' list. "Please, come in." At least her sitting area was clean, with the exception of the books she had obviously been using to study. It was the first time he'd come to her door and she was suddenly quite aware of how cramped her own quarters were in comparison to his, though that did make sense. As a student, she didn't require nearly the same amount of space for a single school term that a professor did for the years they inevitably spent at the castle.  
  
Severus declined with a dismissive wave of his hand and a scowl, though that seemed to have more to do with what he said next than Hermione's invitation. "I've come to inform you that the Headmaster wishes to speak with us regarding wedding plans after dinner tomorrow evening."  
  
"Again?" Hermione said before she could stop herself. A slight twitch at the corner of Severus's lip was the only indication that he thought her obvious frustration to be even slightly amusing. Hermione sighed and nodded her assent, knowing that she had no choice but to agree.  
  
"Tomorrow evening, then," Severus said. With a slight nod, he turned to go, then stopped and looked past Hermione to the wedding dress. She waited somewhat tensely for any sort of reaction, but received none before her turned back into the corridor and disappeared.  
  
As Severus had said, the Headmaster wanted to discuss wedding plans after the evening meal the following day. What he failed to mention, and what Hermione guessed he hadn't known himself, was that it was a meeting comprised of the three couples who had agreed to be married on the same day.  
  
Hermione smiled politely when she entered Dumbledore's office to find Hannah and Ernie hand in hand on a small sofa and Daphne sitting somewhat uncomfortably in a chair with Adrian standing behind her, his hand resting possessively on her shoulder. Severus entered a moment later and his face darkened as the quiet smirk he received from Pucey. No words were exchanged between the couples, though the Hufflepuff and Slytherin pairs traded glances when Hermione stationed herself beside the chair that Severus had claimed. He almost smiled at her in return, and Dumbledore positively beamed.  
  
The conversation that followed went surprisingly well, considering that each couple had wildly different plans for their own ceremony. Ernie and Hannah, as they had already let anyone who would listen know, were planning an elaborate Muggle ceremony. Adrian and Daphne had chosen a handfasting and appeared to be adhering to the oldest of wizarding customs. Hermione thought it odd that she and Severus had been the only couple of the three to aim for the middle ground, a handfasting with slight Muggle overtones.  
  
The only issue of the evening seemed to appear when it came to making decisions about the combined reception party. Muggle ceremony and strict handfasting weren't meshing well at all, and Adrian nearly brought Hannah to tears before Ernie and, surprisingly, Severus stood up for her.  
  
Hermione arched an eyebrow in surprise, a habit that Ginny swore she had picked up from spending small amounts of time with Severus, and took advantage of a moment of hurt silence to suggest that perhaps they should leave the reception decorations to the Headmaster. Severus snorted, a response echoed by Adrian, but Hannah and Ernie perked up and Daphne looked at her quizzically.  
  
"Well, he always does a fabulous job of the feasts and Balls, doesn't he?" Hermione said in reply to their questions as to her reasoning. Dumbledore chuckled his amusement at her assessment of his decorating skills, and everyone agreed, if grudgingly, to give up their arguments in favor of entrusting the Headmaster with the task.  
  
Hermione was thrilled that that particular decision marked the end of their wedding planning session and, as she stalked back to her own rooms to hide her wedding dress in her wardrobe, she vowed to think about the pending nuptials as little as possible until they actually happened. 


	13. Chapter Thirteen Wedding Day

Title: On Marriage, Chapter Thirteen – Wedding Day

Summary: HG/SS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard – can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge.

Disclaimers: I own none of it. Everything you recognize is owned by JK Rowling, her publishers or someone else, but not me. I'm just playing with the characters for a little bit. Please don't sue me; I have nothing. (And for anything I inadvertently lifted from someone else's fan fic, I profusely apologize. I've read so many and worked this idea over so many times I'm sure that I've added things without meaning to.)

Un-beta-ed. Mistakes mine.

Despite Hermione's best efforts to slow down the winter term by burying herself in her schoolwork, the weeks continues to pass. She marked the time by counting papers and exams and the occasional awkward Saturday tea with Severus, and eventually even she had to admit that her wedding day was looming near.

Hannah, the only one of the holiday brides who was actually looking forward to her wedding day, had gotten to be almost impossible to be around. She seemed to have forgotten that she was still in school, putting aside her classroom studies to pour over bridal magazines and guest lists and other little assorted wedding plans that hadn't been covered in the large reception meeting.

"Can't she talk about something else for a little while?" Ron grumbled one day as they walked past the Hufflepuff table on their way to lunch. Hannah and her friends had been clustered at one end of the table, magazines open, fawning over flower arrangements.

"Ron, hush!" Ginny hissed, sneaking a glance at Hermione.

"It's all right, Ginny," Hermione said. "If Hannah's happy with this, then I'm happy for her. Muggles always say that the wedding is for the bride. She should be happy."

Hermione sighed to see the tight, sad expression on her friends faces as they claimed four empty seats at the Gryffindor table.

"Stop it, all of you," she sighed. "I'm getting married, not dying. You've had months to get used to the idea."

"But, Hermione-" Ron began.

"But what, Ron?" Hermione demanded. "Not that much is going to change. I'll still be in the castle. I'll still be in classes. I'll still be eating all of my meals right here at this table with all of you."

There was a moment's tense silence before Ron allowed himself to be caught up in a quidditch conversation that was taking place beside him. Two words later, Harry was involved as well. After a brief reassuring smile, Ginny turned to answer a question that had been asked by a third year student who was sitting beside her, and Hermione found herself alone in the crowded room.

As had become something of a habit in odd moments following similar conversations, Hermione let her gaze drift up to the Head Table. As had become something of a habit in odd moments following similar conversations, she found that the dark gaze of Severus was already upon her. She held his gaze just briefly before offering a weak smile. He nodded slightly in return, then looked away as Professor Flitwick leaned over and spoke to him. With a small sigh, Hermione turned her attention to her meal.

The following Saturday was Wedding Day.

Hermione woke with an odd sensation in her stomach and the feeling that she'd forgotten something very important. It wasn't until she was halfway through her shower that she remembered what was happening that evening, and she found the lapse extremely unsettling.

Not that she was allowed to push it from her mind again.

Hermione had barely stepped out of the bathroom and was still toweling her hair dry when there was a knock at her door. It was Ginny, pink faced with excitement.

"Are you ready?" she asked, barely able to contain her glee.

Hermione blinked in astonishment. She wondered briefly if someone had forced Polyjuice on her friend and she was actually talking to Hannah Abbot disguised as Ginny Weasley.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said, blushing deeply when Hermione failed to answer. "I know that you're marrying Professor Snape and that you can't be terribly excited about this, but I just saw Hannah and her friends and I think some of the excitement rubbed off on me. Besides, there's always a little bit of excitement in every wedding, don't you think?"

Hermione shrugged and stepped aside so that Ginny could enter the room, though she had to admit that there was a knot in her stomach that was typically only associated with special events. She didn't feel that it qualified as 'excitement' though.

Ginny was glad to see that Hermione had bathed but not taken care of anything else yet. Although the weddings would not begin until after lunch, there were many steps in the pre-ceremony preparation and Ginny decreed that it would take that much time to work through them. Hermione had hoped to greet her parents when they arrived, but Ginny informed her that Professor McGonagall, along with Harry and Ron, would be entertaining them once they arrived.

Hermione stared open mouthed.

"I can't even see my Mum?" she asked weakly as Ginny sat her down on the edge of the bed and began brushing her hair.

"Of course you can," Ginny said, sounding very much like her mother. "Just not until a little later."

Over the next several hours, Ginny helped Hermione with everything that she'd always imagined her mother would be there for. Since they were preparing for a handfasting instead of a traditional muggle wedding, Hermione knew the time was probably much more productive than it might have been, though she couldn't help wishing that her mother had been a part of the preparations anyway. By the time lunch was delivered, along with Harry and Ron and the Grangers, Hermione was as ready for the ceremony as she was going to be.

Ginny had taken great pains with Hermione's hair, somehow taming the bushy mass and turning it into a lovely updo with a cascade of smooth curls. ("I am never doing this for you again," she had complained at one point when it didn't look as though Hermione's hair was going to cooperate at all. Hermione, though she thought the finished product was lovely, agreed.) Hermione had been primped and scented and positively glowed.

As soon as the Granger's stepped into their daughter's rooms, Margaret Granger's eyes began to tear.

"Oh, Mum, don't," Hermoine said, giving her mother a hug and trying to keep her own tears from welling up. It was difficult, though. Hermione's father cleared his throat, which she knew meant he was trying to squelch his own emotions. Even Harry and Ron looked a bit stricken, though Hermione thought they were the only people in the room, aside from herself, not entirely excited by the prospect up her upcoming nuptials.

Greetings and the ensuing compliments quickly dispatched, Hermione was surprised by how pleasant lunch was. She had expected the gathering to be a bit more tense, though it appeared that she alone was completely on edge. Hermione found herself unable to eat, picking at a small plate of fruit as everyone else partook of a beautiful light lunch. The fluttering in her stomach continued to grow stronger as the little luncheon came to a close.

Hannah and Ernie would be wed first, just after lunch. When Hermione bit into a small piece of melon and realized that, someplace in the castle, Hannah and her attendants were probably already standing at the ready, she very nearly choked on it. Ron, who had just delivered the punchline of a joke, grinned at his success as Harry pounded on her back until she could breathe again.

She and Severus would follow Hannah and Ernie, with Adrian and Daphne's ceremony being the last of evening.

Finally the time came when Harry and Ron were called away. They had been invited to, and were expected to attend, Hannah and Ernie's wedding. Hermione felt herself pale slightly as they left, but smiled and said that she would see them later. Her parents left shortly after, to finish their own preparations while Ginny and Hermione dressed.

When it was finally time, Hermione couldn't imagine where the day had gone. Or the entire first half of the term, for that matter. It seemed like it had been only a few short days since she had been given the appalling news that she was to be someone's bride and, Saturday teas or no, she didn't feel at all as though she knew the man she was about to marry.

Ginny attempted to reassure her with a smile and a pat on the hand as they stood alone in the corridor outside of the Room of Requirement, where the ceremony was to take place. Hermione managed a nod in return, then swallowed hard as she heard the first strains of gentle music coming from the other side of the door.

That was their cue.

Ginny pushed open the heavy wooden door, and Hermione's breath was taken away at the sight before her.

Assorted friends, family and classmates were seated at the sides of the room, which was no surprise. The room itself, however, was more than Hermione could have imagined. It appeared as though they were outside, just at twilight, when the first of the stars begin to twinkle in the heavens. Hermione could not discern where the music was coming from, but it was overlaid with birdsong and the sound of crickets. The floor was a lush blanket of greenery and wildflowers, which complimented the small bouquet of loose flowers Hermione herself had chosen to carry. Like her dress, the decorations were graceful and understated, with swags of cloth hanging across low branches of trees to make shaded areas for the onlookers. A gently curving path of water-smoothed stones led to a clearing where Severus stood waiting. Dumbledore stood behind him, smiling gently, and Professor Flitwick off to one side, Severus' chosen attendant.

Trying to regain her composure, Hermione took a deep breath and followed Ginny up the path to the clearing. Severus, standing tall and still in crisp formal robes, did not move his dark gaze from her the entire time, and Hermione felt her cheeks burning by the time she reached his side.

Hermione managed a nervous smile as she took her place, but could not discern the look in Severus' eyes before he turned to face the Headmaster.

"We have come together here in the celebration of the of the joining together of Hermione Jane Granger and Severus Auralius Snape," the Headmaster began. Hermione found that she was comforted by his tone of voice and gentle smile, despite the situation she found herself in.

"Above you are the stars, below you are the stones, as time doth pass, remember... Like a stone should your love be firm, like a star should your love be constant. Let the powers of the mind and of the intellect guide you in your marriage, let the strength of your wills bind you together, let the power of love and desire make you happy, and the strength of your dedication make you inseparable. Be close, but not too close. Possess one another, yet be understanding. Have patience with one another, for storms will come, but they will pass quickly. Be free in giving affection and warmth. Have no fear and let not the ways of the unenlightened give you unease, for your love is forever."

At the first mention of love, Hermione felt her brows knit just slightly. Love? Dedication, she could imagine, once they had time to get used to one another, but love? It seemed impossible. Hermione dared a quick sideways glance at Severus to gauge his reaction, but his face remained impassive as he looked upon the Headmaster.

"Hermione, please face Severus and hold his hands, palms up, so that you may see the gift they are to you."

Handing Ginny the small bouquet, she did as was requested of her, taking Severus' hands when they were offered. It was the first time she had ever really looked at them outside of class, and she was somewhat surprised by their appearance. The fingers were long and narrow, the palms pale but callused from use, the nails short but neatly trimmed.

"These are the hands, strong and vibrant with love, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as he promises to love you all the days of his life. These are the hands you will place with expectant joy against your stomach, until he too, feels his child stir within your womb. These are the hands that look so large and clumsy, yet will be so gentle as he holds your baby for the first time. These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness. These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes: tears of sorrow and tears of joy. These are the hands that will comfort you in illness, and hold you when fear or grief racks your mind. These are the hands that will tenderly lift your chin and brush your cheek as they raise your face to look into his eyes: eyes that are filled completely with his love and desire for you."

It was impossible to keep from looking up at Severus, and Hermione found herself pinned by his gaze.

"Severus, please hold Hermione's hands, palms up, so that you may see the gift they are to you."

Hermione felt Severus remove his hands from hers, briefly wrapping her wrists as they found a new home beneath them. She followed his gaze to her own palms, remarkably small and smooth in comparison to his own.

"These are the hands that are smooth, young, and carefree, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as she pledges her love and commitment to you all the days of her life. These are the hands that will hold each child in tender love, soothing them through illness and hurts, supporting and encouraging them along the way, and knowing when it's time to let go. These are the hands that will massage tension from your neck and back in the evenings, after you've both had a long hard day. These are the hands that will hold you tight as you struggle through difficult times. They are the hands that will comfort you when you are sick or console you when you are grieving. These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness. These are the hands that will hold you in joy and excitement and hope. These are the hands that will give you support as she encourages you to chase down your dreams. Together, everything you wish for can be realized."

There were quiet sniffles from the area of the guests, and Hermione found herself blinking back tears once again. She was moved by the words of the ritual and the images they inspired, and while she found herself remarkably impressed that Severus would take her on and deny himself the possibility of someday finding someone who would care for him that much, she also felt grief at the loss of that possibility herself.

Hermione remained lost in the cycle of hopes and regrets, barely noting the binding of their wands and the exchange of rings

And then it was over.

Severus leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on Hermione's lips, startling her back to the moment. She found herself, one hand held loosely in his, facing an audience of friends and family, as Mrs. Hermione Snape.


	14. Chapter Fourteen Reception

Title: On Marriage, Chapter Fourteen – Reception

Summary: HG/SS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard – can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge.

Disclaimers: Please see earlier chapters

Un-beta-ed. Mistakes mine.

I've gotten so many good reviews on the wedding, for which I am very thankful, though it occurs to me that I failed to mention I had not written the vows. I was having difficulty finding the perfect handfasting for Hermione and Severus and, in the end, borrowed from my sisters wedding and adjusted to suit my needs. My apologies to anyone who thought the words were mine.

Since there was still one ceremony to be performed after their own, Hermione and Severus, as well as their guests, found themselves shuffled off into an empty classroom to wait for the group reception. Most of the students in attendance, preferring gaiety over any additional time in the presence of their Potions Master, quickly excused themselves to rejoin Hannah and Ernie's pre-reception gathering. Hermione heard whispers of cake and champagne as the students slipped away, and soon the only people left in the now-too-large room were she and Severus, her parents, Harry and the Weasleys.

Severus had released Hermione's hand as they had exited the Room of Requirement, for which she thought she was grateful. He stood off to one side of the room, having what appeared to be a pleasant conversation with Hermione's parents. This seemed to baffle her friends as much as it had initially surprised her when she'd made their introductions, though they were given very little time to ponder the oddity as Molly Weasley promptly swept Hermione into a happy but tearful embrace. She and Ginny immediately found themselves the center of the Weasley clan's attentions, where they remained until Professor Flitwick came to collect the group for the reception a short while later.

The Great Hall was already flooded with wedding celebrants by the time Severus and Hermione arrived with their comparably small group. Adrian and Daphne and their guests had come directly from their ceremony, and Hannah and Ernie's followers had arrived quickly when the rumor of food and dancing began to circulate.

There was food, and there was music, though the three groups of wedding guests remained somewhat separated at first. The friends and family of Mr and Mrs Macmillan were the most abundant and most jovial, and this feeling slowly began to permeate the rest of the group. Of them all, only Daphne seemed entirely unhappy to be there. She was quiet, her eyes rimmed in red and, when she came by to both give and receive a congratulatory hug with Hermione, Hannah whispered that none of Daphne's family had been present at her ceremony. Hermione herself felt oddly distanced from the events at hand and, were it not for the dress she wore and the fact that Severus was almost constantly only an arm's reach away, she might have forgotten that she was one of the reasons everyone was there in the first place.

Once everyone had been given the opportunity to mingle and sample some of the edible treats, the music in the room changed and the Headmaster called the brides and their fathers to the floor for a dance. Hermione had forgotten that the muggle tradition was going to be applied to the evening, but took her father's arm with a smile and followed Hannah and Mr Abbott to the dance floor. Once they were in place, she had a moment's horror remembering Hannah's whispered comment earlier in the evening – but it appeared that she wasn't the only person Hannah had mentioned this fact to, and Hermione smiled to see Severus escort Daphne to the dance floor. The move seemed a bit uncharacteristic until Hermione thought of how the Slytherin's seemed to pride themselves on their loyalty to one another and, in lieu of her father, Daphne's head of house certainly seemed a suitable replacement. Adrian had scowled but did not argue and, for the first time that evening, Daphne beamed with happiness at something Severus said too quietly for anyone else to hear.

When the dance began, Hermione fell easily into step with her father. She was surprised to see, over his shoulder, that Severus didn't appear to be a stranger to the dance floor. Halfway through the song, Ernie and Adrian left the group of onlookers and interrupted their wives partners.

Relinquishing Daphne to her husband, Severus stepped towards Hermione and her father. Severus and Daniel greeted each other with a slight nod and, after a parting peck on the cheek from her father, Hermione found herself in the arms of Severus, her husband. She realized with a start that, aside from their vows, they had not spoken to one another at all that day. Under the circumstances, Hermione found this a bit unsettling, though it was not nearly as unsettling as the feel of his hand placed firmly against the small of her back.

Looking up, determined to break the silence, Hermione found that Severus was already watching her. The words she had intended to speak, whatever they had been, were lost.

"You...you look very nice this evening," she managed to stammer, inwardly cursing herself for the uncertainty that had stolen her previous thoughts.

Severus quirked a half-smile, one Hermione was slowly beginning to get used to. "As do you," he returned quietly. "It would appear that Miss Weasley has some hidden talents," he added, removing his hand from Hermione's back long enough to touch one of the smooth curls that Ginny had created. Hermione blushed, unsure whether the statement was a compliment to her current looks, or a dig against the way she looked every other day.

"What did you say to Daphne?" Hermione asked in an attempt to diffuse what felt like it was going to become a very awkward moment.

Severus scowled at her in reply. "House business," he said bruskly, but did not elaborate.

Admonished, Hermione did not attempt conversation again. She spent the remainder of the evening either on the dance floor with her father and her friends, or seated with her mother and the two Weasley women. She did not find herself beside Severus again until the eveing was drawing to a close.

The Headmaster offered a toast to the couples, wishing them many years of happiness together, and then the reception began to break up. Adrian and Daphne left so quietly that no one even saw their exit. Ernie and Hannah departed in a hail of birdseed, at which Severus quirked an eyebrow and scowled. And then Hermione found herself standing beside Severus in a quickly emptying room.

"It's time for us to go," he said to her after she had said goodbye to her mother and father. Hermione nodded mutely, have Harry and Ron and Ginny a tight smile and a wave, and left the hall with Severus.

At the base of the staircase where their paths would normally part, Hermione stopped walking and looked to Severus. She had just realized that she had no idea what was supposed to happen next. Was she supposed to return to the Head Girl's rooms and pack up her belongings? Or head to Severus' quarters as his wife and forget the life that had come before?

Neither, as it turned out.

As though he sensed her uncertainty, Severus also stopped walking, and watched Hermione for a moment before she spoke.

"Our things will be waiting in the entrance hall."

Hermione bit her lip in confusion. Severus sighed as though she was being terribly thick, and then continued his explanation.

"I believe a honeymoon is typically a part of the muggle wedding procedure, is it not?" he asked.

"Yes, but-" Hermione began.

"We are leaving for our honeymoon." Hermione thought the word sounded terribly odd in Severus' mouth and, indeed, he did seem somewhat uncomfortable with it himself. Hermione's stomach knotted. She was having difficulty with the thought that everything leading up to the wedding had already happened and the whole situation was no longer a matter of 'when'...it was now.

"Where?" she asked.

"My home," Severus said simply, then amended awkwardly, "Our home." Hermione swallowed and nodded. She knew that Severus had told her the location of a house he owned during one of their Saturday teas. At the moment she was unable to recall where exactly that was. At the moment, she was doing quite well to remember to breathe.

"Shall we?" Severus asked, motioning towards the staircase in front of them. Hermione nodded again and moved towards the entrance hall where, indeed, two suitcases were waiting. Birdseed scattered about the floor suggested that Hannah and Ernie had already made their escape from the castle and Hermione idly wondered where it was they had gone as she took the cloak that Severus offered her and prepared herself to step outside into the snow.

It was a chilled walk to the edge of the school grounds, where they were able to apparate to their location. Much like when the pair had first visited the Grangers, Hermione and Severus Apparated together, though this time he led the way to their destination.

The first thing that Hermione noticed about where they had gone was that it was dark, then that it was still quite cold. The shadow of a house loomed in front of them, light burning in a handful of windows and near what Hermione assumed to be the front door.

Severus let out a gentle sigh and Hermione wished she had been able to see his face. It sounded almost as though he were glad to be home, though it could have been just as easily true that he was glad to be away from the wedding reception.

"Come along," he said, and Hermione followed him towards the circle of light at the door. They had no sooner reached the front stoop than the front door was flung open and a handful of house elves descended upon them. Hermione missed their names in the ensuing confusion, but found that her suitcase was taken from her immediately, followed by her cloak as soon as they were indoors. Before she properly had the opportunity to look around the foyer, the small army bustled the newlyweds up a flight of stairs, down a corridor, around a corner and through a pair of wooden doors. Hermione found herself blinking at the sight of a rather cozy sitting room. A fire roared in the fireplace and assorted candles kept the room from being too dark. There was a door off to either side of the room, and one of the house elves begged Hermione's forgiveness then pulled her by the hand towards on of the closed doors.

Hermione glanced over her shoulder to see if the same was happening to Severus, but he had been left surrounded by the other house selves, to whom he was giving quiet instruction. The house elf began talking as soon as they were through the door, bouncing about and nervously showing Hermione the bedroom she had been led into.

The room itself was fairly large, bigger than her apartment at Hogwarts at any rate, dressed with a four poster bed draped in blue as well as a matching dresser and vanity. A trunk rested at the foot of the wide bed, and her suitcase was waiting there already.

The little house elf, who's name Hermione still hadn't managed to discern, pointed to another door, told her it led to a bathroom and suggested that Hermione might want to freshen up after her travels, then smiled and disappeared as only a house elf can.

Somewhat shaken by the sudden silence after such bustling activity, Hermione stood quietly in the middle of the room for a moment. She couldn't tell if Severus was still talking to elves in the other room and wasn't quite prepared to go in search of him just yet. It was, after all, suddenly her wedding night, and she wasn't at all certain that she was prepared for what was logically going to come next.

Maybe freshening up wasn't such a bed idea after all.

Hermione bathed, then brushed her hair and brushed her teeth and changed into pajamas. Honeymoon or no, she had chosen to wear what her mother had once termed 'sleep-over' pajamas, long pants of a soft blue fabric with a matching button-up top. She wasn't quite ready to attempt anything more revealing, and highly doubted that Severus expected her to come to bed in a short, sheer nightgown.

Hermione stood before the mirror, trying to mentally prepare herself for what she knew was coming next. She knew the mechanics of it all, of course. She'd read all about that years earlier. But, as much as she'd known since Midsummer that this moment was going to come, Hermione wasn't ready.

She was thankful that Severus hadn't knocked on the bathroom door to inquire after her welfare, but eventually even Hermione had to admit that she couldn't hide in there forever - no matter how tempting that idea was. Taking a deep breath, she opened the bathroom door and stepped into the darkened bedroom. And candle on the dresser was the only light in the room, and Hermione was both surprised and relieved to find the room empty.

There was light coming from beneath the door to the sitting room, suggesting that Severus was probably still out there. Hermione considered going to check on him, but quickly dismissed the idea. She crawled into the large bed, tucked the blankets beneath her chin. She was too nervous to sleep, which left her with nothing to do but wait.


	15. Chapter Fifteen The Wedding Night

Title: On Marriage, Chapter Fifteen – The Wedding Night

Summary: HG/SS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard – can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge.

Disclaimers: Please see earlier chapters

A/N: Hijacked by real life again. Terribly sorry about the wait – I never intended to leave everyone hanging on the results of the wedding night. Hope I've made it worth the wait. Chapter sixteen in progress…

Hermione half-woke, a smile upon her face. She was warm and comfortable and well-rested and pleased, when she yawned and stretched, to discover that Crookshanks was not in his usual place, curled against her stomach. This made rolling over and snuggling deeper into the blankets easier, as there was not a protesting bundle of fur in the way. She sighed happily, the soft blankets pulled against her cheek, and wondered how much time she had to lie in bed before she had to get up for class.

Oh, no, there was no class, she remembered vaguely, beginning to drift back to sleep. In fact, a voice in the back of her mind continued, there wouldn't even be breakfast to miss if she overslept because she wasn't at Hogwarts anymore. She was on vacation.

Hermione sat up with a start, the room spinning with the sudden motion. Vacation? No, she wasn't on vacation. She was on her honeymoon!

Instinctively, she looked at the far side of the bed. It remained unmussed. She then turned her gaze outward into the bedroom. It was still dark, lit by a single gutting candle on the vanity, and it was also empty.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she began to wonder what exactly was going on.

There was still light, though dim, filtering beneath the door to the outer room. Hermione listened closely, but heard no sign of anyone on the opposite side. Quietly, she opened the door and peered into the room.

The fire in the grate was lit, though dying, and the room seemed both larger and deathly quiet in the absence of the house elves. Severus sat on the short sofa, head hanging as though he were asleep.

Tentatively, Hermione stepped into the room. She could see a book open on Severus' lap. She cringed to think of how stiff his neck would be when he woke in the morning, then leaned down to close the book and set it on a side table where he would be sure to see it when he woke.

She got as far as touching the book when a hand reached up and grasped her by the wrist. Hermione let out a startled yelp and found herself staring into Severus' dark eyes.

"Do you make a habit out of sneaking up on people to steal their reading material?" he asked, not unkindly. He released her wrist and, instinctively, Hermione stepped away.

Her heart hammered and she worked to control her breathing. "I thought – I thought you were asleep," she stammered, her cheeks pinking at the apologetic tone in her voice. As much as the occasional afternoon teas had left her marginally more comfortable in his presence, this was a completely different situation.

"I am not," he replied, then closed the book and set it aside on his own.

They stared at one another.

"Well," Hermione said after a quiet moment. She tried not to fidget. "I suppose I'll go back to bed then."

"Miss Granger – Hermione, you have no need for worry. You will sleep unmolested by me," Severus said as Hermione took the first steps back towards the bedroom. She stopped in her tracks.

"Pardon?"

"I said," he began again, looking over his shoulder at her, "that you have no need to worry. That is the Mistress Chamber," he explained, nodding to the bedroom from which Hermione had come. "The Master Suite is through that door." He turned his gaze to the third door in the room, the one Hermione knew did not return to the hallway.

"Oh," she said simply.

They watched each other again.

"I thought we had to-" Hermione began after a moment's awkward silence, but her voice died away at a look from Severus. As the room was in half-light and the fire was behind him, it was difficult to tell what exactly his expression had been, but Hermione stopped talking anyway.

"Not immediately," he said.

"Oh," she repeated.

The awkward silence was threatening to return, and Hermione knew something had to happen to break the tension. So, surprising them both, she stepped back towards the sofa. She took a seat on the second cushion, drew up her knees and placed her chin upon them as she stared into the fire. Severus watched her for a moment but did not speak, then turned his own gaze to the flames.

Several moments passed in relative quiet. The dying fire popped and cracked periodically, but neither Severus nor Hermione spoke. The flickering of light proved to be somewhat mesmerizing and Hermione found that her eyelids slowly began to grow a bit heavier. She had no idea what time it actually was, but had noted that it was still quite dark outside when she'd left her bedroom.

Hermione barely noticed the slightest rustle of fabric as Severus adjusted his position on the small couch ever-so-slightly. She was more aware of the fact that his movement has caused her own cushion to shift beneath her. "You're going to become ill," he said quietly.

Hermione lifted her chin from her knees and turned her head to Severus. "I am?" she asked. She hadn't been aware that he was watching her but, at some point, he had apparently shifted his attention from the fire. His gaze was stern, as she imagined that it always was, though she was glad to note that neither his dark eyes nor his voice suggested that she had done something horribly wrong.

"The room is chilled and you are wearing neither a dressing gown nor slippers," Severus noted, glancing at the bare toes that rested on the sofa cushion.

Hermione followed Severus' gaze down to her feet and wiggled her toes without realizing that she had done it. She looked back up at him and smiled slightly.

"I hadn't even noticed," she admitted. She had been so startled by the remembrance that she was a newlywed that she had abandoned her bed without thought to the chill in the air. Now that he mentioned it, Hermione was much more aware of how much cooler her back was than her toes and she wrapped her arms a bit tighter about her knees. Her pajamas were somewhat thin, which hadn't been an issue when she'd been tucked beneath thick blankets. Severus himself was still in his wedding clothes. He had removed his outer robes and loosened his collar, but otherwise remained fully dressed. Hermione discovered that she was not at all surprised by this.

Severus watched her for a moment longer, then reached towards the back of the sofa to reclaim his coat. Before she properly realized what was happening, Hermione found that he had opened the jacket and draped it about her shoulders. Even though she was somewhat shocked at the action, Hermione found it touching and couldn't help smiling.

"Thank you," she murmured. Severus responded with a slight nod and a dismissive noise and turned his attention back to the fire. Hermione turned her eyes back to the grate, but found that she was much more aware of Severus beside her than she had been only a few moments earlier.

She was sleepy, she decided. It had been a long day and emotions were obviously running high, even if both she and Severus were outwardly calm at the moment. They had gotten married, and months of planning didn't seem to have prepared either one of them for it one bit. Well, perhaps it has Severus, Hermione mused. He wasn't being hateful at all, and prior to their engagement the idea of sitting side by side on a small sofa and gazing into a fire without him snapping at her would have been ludicrous.

What a strange thing marriage is going to be, Hermione thought sleepily. Buried beneath Severus' jacket and knowing what a decidedly un-Snapeish thing it was for him have offered it, she couldn't help the tiniest of smiles. She almost laughed.

Hermione was pulled from her thoughts by another rustle of fabric. She looked up as Severus got to his feet. He watched her with remarkably expressionless dark eyes for just a moment.

"It's late. I suggest you return to bed."

Hermione nodded, but did not immediately move.

"Breakfast will be served in this room tomorrow morning," Severus continued. He watched her for another silent moment, opened his mouth as if to say something and then stopped. He gave her a slight nod instead, then stepped around the edge of the sofa towards the room he had termed the Master Suite.

"Goodnight," Hermione said to his back.

Severus paused at the doorframe. "Goodnight, Hermione."


	16. Chapter 16

Title: On Marriage, Chapter Sixteen – The Morning After

Summary: HG/SS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard – can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge.

Disclaimers: Please see earlier chapters

A/N: Many, many, many thanks to those of you who have stuck out this wait and been so very patient with me while I kept promising an update. You guys are the best. All of the kind reviews and gentle prodding were a great help in keeping me motivated through the weeks (and, erm, months) that I was unable to do any productive writing. I hope that the wait was worth it, and that this next break won't be nearly so long.

Sorry it's so…brief. That's just where they wanted to end it. And all errors are mine. Given the length of time between postings, I got too impatient to take anyone up on the beta offers this time around.

The morning following her wedding, Hermione woke alone and 'unmolested', as promised. This was a definite source of relief, if a situation that led her to ponder uncomfortable questions. The traditional acts of the wedding night had been overlooked for the time being, but would have to be dealt with sooner or later. On one hand, Hermione knew that it was simply a part of the contract she and Severus had entered into. It was, she felt, remarkably kind of him to have not pressed the issue immediately, though on reflection he had seemed almost as uncomfortable as she. Perhaps, since it was merely a formality of their contract and neither of them was of the overly emotional variety, it was something that they could approach with a kind of clinical detachment. That wasn't exactly the type of situation that Hermione might have hoped for, but it was sure to be preferable to what would have been the Malfoy alternative. Her mind dancing with the question of whether 'sooner' or 'later' would be preferable, Hermione readied herself for the day and stepped into the sitting room.

It was no real surprise that Severus was already there, looking as foreboding as ever. He was sipping a cup of tea and pouring over the same book he had been reading the evening before. Quickly brushing bedroom thoughts from her mind, Hermione felt her cheeks warm in embarrassment. 'Later', definitely.

"Good morning," she murmured, only narrowly dropping the traditional 'sir' from the end of her greeting. Severus raised his eyes above the top of his book and made a noncommittal noise as he studied her. Hermione tried not to fidget.

"Good morning," he returned a moment later. He set the book aside and got to his feet, tea cup still in hand.

"I didn't expect you to be such an early riser," he said, his voice carrying just the slightest hint of a question to it, "but your timing worked out well. Breakfast has just been served." He nodded his head towards a sideboard at the back of the room and when Hermione turned to look at it, she was greeted by the sight of a meal. It was light - fruits and cheeses and flaky pastries and her stomach very nearly growled. Hermione had been too wound up to eat much the day before, and found that her body craved sustenance. She did not, however, move towards the sideboard. After another moment's silence, Severus did.

"I can assure you, Hermione, that I have not poisoned the meal." To further punctuate his point, Severus picked up one of two small plates that had been set beside the breakfast trays and placed several items atop it.

Hermione felt her cheeks warm and she struggled to keep from rolling her eyes at her own foolishness.

"I didn't think you had," she said, following Severus' example and putting together a plate. He moved to sit on one end of the sofa and, though she briefly eyed a more distant chair, Hermione did the same. The clink of tea cups on saucers and gentle rustling of fabrics were the only sounds in the room as the Snapes nourished themselves. The quiet was extremely unsettling to Hermione, who was much more used to the chattering of students at meals. She wondered where the somewhat stilted politeness of their afternoon teas had gone. Those had never been entirely comfortable, but were preferable to this silence that had her ears ringing.

Taking a small sip of her tea, Hermione turned ever-so-slightly towards Severus. He seemed intensely focused on the last bites of a pastry.

"So," she said, her voice, though it had been quiet, seeming to ring though the room rather loudly. She cleared her throat when Severus looked at her expectantly, and then tried again. "What happens now?"

"Now?" he asked, not seeming to understand the question.

"Yes," Hermione said, her cheeks turning the slightest bit pink as she found herself feeling somewhat foolish. If the plan was to spend the entire holiday at their current location, things were going to get rather boring rather quickly if they spent them confined to two bedrooms and a sitting area and barely spoke to one another. She said as much, which Severus greeted with a quiet "Ah" and the slightest nod of understanding.

"You were hoping for something more…exciting, I presume," he said dryly.

"Not at all," Hermione said in reply, careful not to answer too quickly. Harry and Ron might have noticed the slightest hint of annoyance in her words, though she felt it lucky that Severus didn't know her well enough yet to hear it. She doubted he would be at all pleased if she were to pick a fight quite so early in their marriage, much less quite so early in the morning. "Though had I known we were going to be quarantined, I might have brought more homework with me. I'll finish my NEWT revisions in no time, now."

Severus' eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly and he did not break his gaze even when he took a drink from his tea cup. Hermione clenched her teeth together, determined not to flinch under his stare, and was relieved, when he finally spoke, that his tone was even, almost dismissing.

"You may visit the remainder of the estate," Severus said. "There is a library on the first floor, which I'd imagine that you might find entertaining. Don't waste your time looking for secrets," he added, looking at her sideways as he took another sip of his tea. "Any items that would be forbidden to you have already been removed."

Hermione tried not to look offended.

"You may explore the grounds as well," Severus continued, "though I would warn you not to stray from the estate. While you are on the grounds, you are protected by a series of rather complex charms. It may be more than is necessary," he said, forcing through when Hermione opened her mouth to speak, "but there are those who are quite unhappy with this union and would do you harm. We will take no chances."

Hermione pulled her lips into a thin line in annoyance. Severus couldn't honestly think that she had no idea of the danger that was involved, could he? It had been the entire basis of their union; she certainly wasn't going to forget about it and waltz directly into Malfoy's waiting arms the day after their wedding. An exasperated noise escaped her as she relinquished her breakfast plate to the small end table.

Severus got to his feet. With the grace with which he typically swooped through the Hogwarts corridors, though lacking the attendant drama in the absence of flowing outer robes, Severus moved towards the door of the sitting room.

"I have work to do," he said dryly, pausing with his hand on the latch. "Do try to stay out of trouble." Hermione felt the corners of her mouth tug upwards in wry appreciation of his warning, but Severus had disappeared into the corridor before a full smile could form itself on her lips.


	17. Chapter Seventeen Staying Out of Trouble

Chapter Seventeen – Staying Out of Trouble

Summary: HG/SS. Hermione is forced to marry a pureblood wizard – can she learn to live with her choice? A response to the WIKTT Marriage Law Challenge.

Disclaimers: I own none of it. Everything you recognize is owned by JK Rowling, her publishers or someone else, but not me. I'm just playing with the characters for a little bit. Please don't sue me; I have nothing. (And for anything I inadvertently lifted from someone else's fan fic, I profusely apologize. I've read so many and worked this idea over so many times I'm sure that I've added things without meaning to.)

A/N: Again, thank you to those of you who are still with me. I had no idea that the ride would be this long and I adore you for hanging on to see how it ends. For your patience, I reward you with a much-longer-than-normal chapter and… (finally!) lemons! Those of you reading on the appropriately rated sites will get the whole story; those of you reading on the PG sites will get the brief version. All errors are mine. Given the length of time between postings, I was entirely too impatient to take anyone up on beta offers.

Hermione was able to locate the first floor library with relative ease, and spent the better part of her first full day as a Snape there. She poked about the house some, in blatant disregard of the portraits she seemed to disturb, but wasn't able to locate Severus' laboratory. She imagined that he had placed a fairly strong ward on the entrance to keep her from finding it, though. The house and grounds were large, but not so expansive that they would be able to entirely hide from one another otherwise.

When the weather was good, Hermione expanded her browsing to out of doors. There was a nicely groomed garden, with cobbled paths cleared of snow, though all but the evergreen plants had withered to skeletal remains for the winter. Hermione imagined that the area might be described as 'lush' in the spring, but would have to wait and see. When she asked Severus about it over dinner, he had merely offered a noncommittal noise and agreed that the gardens were 'nice'.

As the second week of her honeymoon drew to a close, Hermione began to get terribly restless. Severus was the only person she had seen or spoken to since the wedding. He disappeared as often as possible, and recently seemed reluctant to hold up his end of a conversation during meals or other times the pair found themselves together in the sitting room. With all mail-carrying owls being redirected for the duration of their stay, Hermione was growing desperate for some sort of interaction. Christmas was only a few days away, and she was sorely beginning to feel the lack of friends and family and genial interaction with other human beings.

Severus seemed to note her mood at dinner that evening.

"You've grown tired of the estate already?" he asked without looking up from his plate. There was little sense of query to the question.

Hermione looked up from her own meal, hoping to at least catch his eye, but was denied even that much interaction. She sighed quietly.

"Not at all," she said, dropping her eyes back to her plate and stabbing a bite of vegetables a bit more viciously than was really necessary. "The house is lovely, the grounds arranged beautifully and I'm sure the gardens will be quite charming come spring." If only the house held someone who was willing to hold a decent conversation! Or, at minimum, someone who didn't seem to want to flee the room the moment that she entered it. While they had yet to achieve a true sense of comfort with one another, Hermione had thought, back at Hogwarts, that they would be able to get through a few weeks without things feeling this terribly awkward. Not for the first time, she longed for the cumbersome politeness that their pre-marriage classroom and tea-time interactions had held. She couldn't imagine why empty vows and a wedding band should be such a set-back.

"And do you intend to be this surly until then?" Severus asked, finally meeting her gaze pointedly. "I rather suggest that you learn how to be an adult and cope without your playthings."

Hermione blinked in utter surprise. She was being surly? And had he just referred to her friends as 'playthings'? She opened her mouth to sputter a reply, but was interrupted by the most unexpected event – an owl fluttering to a stop on the windowsill and tapping the glass in a request for entry.

Gauging by how quickly Severus turned his head to the sound, he had not been expecting an owl, either. They had been assured that only mail of the highest priority would interrupt their time spent away from Hogwarts. The scowl on Severus' face when he retrieved the letter suggested that he knew what it was before he had broken the seal and read the brief sheet of parchment.

"Well, Mrs. Snape," he said dryly, returning to the table and letting the parchment fall beside Hermione's plate. "It appears as though you will have something new to occupy your time this evening."

Hermione picked up the letter without hesitation, and felt the blood drain from her face as she read. It was a missive from the Ministry, stating in rather blunt terms that she and Severus had reached the end of their grace period and were required to consummate their marriage immediately, or else find the union declared null and void.

With a controlled hand, Hermione placed the letter back on the table. She was very aware that Severus was watching her, but found it difficult to meet his gaze. She stared at her dinner plate instead, knowing full well that she would be unable to eat another thing.

After a moment's silence, Hermione heard the rustle of Severus' robes as he moved away from the table.

"I'll see you this evening," he said flatly, and disappeared into the hallway. Agreeing with the need to run away but not being inclined to follow through the same doorway, Hermione pushed away from the table and retreated to her bedroom.

Hermione lost some time sitting on her bed, staring sullenly at the wall. She shouldn't have been surprised by the contents of the letter. She had known that, at some point, the need would arise to actually consummate the marriage. But there was something decidedly off-putting about being told, via an impassive and impersonal note from some faceless Ministry employee, that that moment had come. She had hoped to be a bit more emotionally prepared, and wondered if his own preparations had led to Severus' recent distance. It would make sense, she supposed. He didn't seem any more eager than she to engage in the required actions.

With a sigh, Hermione roused herself. She supposed she should go about some sort of preparation, though she really had very little idea of what that should entail.

She bathed, that action making the most sense. She made sure that her legs were smooth and that no unwanted hair made an appearance anywhere else. She combed her hair and scented it very, very lightly. She filed her nails. She put on lip gloss. While Severus had to know that she wasn't exactly a willing partner, Hermione saw no reason to make the event any more difficult for him than it was already going to be.

Clean and back in her room, Hermione looked critically at the space. It had occurred to her that she had no idea if she would be entertaining him in her bed, or if it was to be the other way around. That was a decidedly uncomfortable thought, either way, and Hermione shook her head to get rid of it. She'd know soon enough. In the meantime, straightening up the little bit of clutter that she had accumulated would give her something to do.

Entirely too quickly for her own liking, her clothes were folded and put away, her school things stashed back in her bag, and her books neatly arranged on the shelves. She sighed again, feeling her stomach twist and tighten. How late was it getting to be? Would Severus let her know when it was time? Had he even come back to their suite?

A quick glance at the clock on her nightstand told Hermione that it was getting to be quite late. She knew that she had wasted as much time as possible in the bath, and that was in addition to the time she had spent lost in thought and cleaning her room. If Severus hadn't even made it back into their rooms yet, it was going to be an obnoxiously long night.

Screwing up her courage and ignoring what felt like her heart beating in her throat, Hermione tied her dressing gown over her pajamas and opened the door to the sitting room. It was dim, as it usually was at this time of night, lit only by the fireplace and a few candles that had been placed on the sideboard. Severus was nowhere to be seen, so Hermione crept further into the room. Perhaps he'd left a note…

There was nothing on the table, the sideboard or near the sofa. She scowled. Where in the world had he gone and when exactly was he planning to come back? As nervous as she had become, part of Hermione was ready to just get the whole thing over with so she could get some sleep.

Throwing a baleful glance towards Severus' bedroom, Hermione was surprised to find the door standing partially open. In the two weeks that they had occupied these rooms, Hermione had never seen his door open. From where she stood, she tried to see if he was inside, but the room beyond the doorframe was darker than the sitting room and she couldn't see inside. She crept forward a few steps, craning her neck, but still couldn't make any definite sense out of the shadowed shapes that she could make out.

Before she knew how she had covered the distance, Hermione found herself within arm's reach of Severus' door. Swallowing hard, she reached out a hand and knocked tentatively on the wooden frame.

"Severus?" she asked, her voice so quiet that it barely registered in her own ears.

She was greeted by a silence so thick that she was convinced that the room was empty. Perhaps she should just go back to her room and wait. Severus could send for her when he returned.

Just as Hermione turned to make the return trek across the sitting room, there was the sound of someone stirring from deep inside the shadows.

"Come in," Severus said.

Hermione seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. She stood several steps inside Severus' bedroom doorway, letting her eyes adjust to the dimmer light, her eyes the only bit of her moving. There was a fireplace, barely glowing, which was something that her room did not have. It was a perk of the Master Suite, she supposed, and was glad that there was so little light emanating from the grate. Between the barely-there glow of the dying fire and the heavy curtains that blocked almost every trace of moonlight, any embarrassment would be easily concealed.

A subtle movement drew Hermione's adjusting eyes. Severus had apparently only recently risen from a plush bench that rested at the footboard of a lavish but surprisingly narrow bed.

"A double?" she queried, the question forcing air into her nerve-constricted lungs. Given that the bed in her own suite was the same size she probably shouldn't have been surprised, though she had expected that the Master Suite would contain the largest, most grandiose bed as well.

Severus chuckled gently, Hermione's question obviously not what he had expected her to say first thing.

"My father was…fond of keeping his bedmates nearby."

Noting how his voice had soured towards the end of the statement, Hermione grimaced. They weren't getting off to a terribly good start. Her eyes were adjusting quickly to the near-darkness, now, and she noted that she and Severus were similarly dressed. He was wrapped into a dressing robe, pajama pants protruding from beneath and ending at the tops of a pair of slippers that made no noise as he moved across the carpeting.

"Well," Hermione said, nervous again.

Severus regarded her momentarily. "Yes. Well," he repeated.

Hermione cleared her throat. "Shall we, then?" she asked, aiming for bravery but hearing that her voice was pitched quite a bit higher than normal.

Severus chuckled again, a sound that was not easing Hermione's mind in the least, and moved towards the bench at the foot of the bed again. "I should have expected that you would approach this is in such a straightforward manner. If you are prepared," he undid the tie of his dressing robe and slipped the garment from his shoulders and onto the cushion of the bench, "then yes, we shall."

Hermione let out a nervous puff of breath when she realized that her professor, now her husband, stood before her bare to the waist. She swallowed, took a steadying breath, then stepped towards the bench and dropped her own robe there. She wore her 'sleepover pajamas' as she had not been able to bring herself to wear anything more revealing, and an 'I dare you' expression gleamed in her eyes.

"Hermione," Severus said quietly. He reached out to place a hand on Hermione's shoulder and she stiffened involuntarily. "This is something that must be done."

Hermione nodded and tried to relax. "I know," she said. "We signed a contract. We agreed to the terms."

Severus caught Hermone's eye, as though he wanted to make sure that he had her undivided attention. "I have no intention of hurting you."

Hermione nodded again, and felt that she actually had relaxed marginally. She hadn't imagined that Severus would be cruel, but it was something of a relief to hear, anyway. "I know," she assured him.

The corners of Severus' mouth turned up ever-so-slightly and he stepped back, offering Hermione an ushering motion towards the bed. Taking a deep breath and clenching her fists at her side, Hermione marched forward and crawled atop the blanketing. She had an odd moment then, unsure of what to do next. Sit there with her legs folded beneath her as if she were doing homework? Crawl deep under the covers? Keep her pajamas on or go ahead and remove them? She bit her lip in consternation, and turned questioning eyes to Severus.

He still stood beside the bed, watching her closely.

"This would be much easier for both of us if you might relax," he suggested, echoing a statement that Hermione had made during an early conversation. She laughed, somewhat nervously, in reply.

"I am trying." She moved herself slightly towards the far side of the bed, so that Severus might have room on the mattress. She tried to not think about what she was doing and did her best to squelch the rising sense of panic she felt when Severus sat down beside her.

Hermione bit her lip, glad once again for the dimness of the room. She clinched and released her fingers in her lap, wondering who was supposed to reach for whom first. Should she expect any sort of foreplay, and would her idea of the word match Serverus', or would they just move directly to the main event?

So intent on determining the appropriate next step, Hermione did not quite catch what Severus said next.

"Pardon?" she asked, startled that she was quite so wound up. She really did need to relax.

"I said, I brewed a potion that you might find useful," Severus repeated. "You'll find it on the nightstand."

Hermione turned her head towards the nightstand on her side of the bed and noted the slight gleam of a small glass bottle sitting there. She looked at Severus questioningly. "A contraceptive?" she queried. "I didn't think they were allowed."

"Alas, they are not," Severus said evenly. "While I do not have any desire to burden either of us with a child before it is either desired or necessary, I was unable to determine any way around that particular stipulation of our contract. That is a different variety of brew. To…help you enjoy the evening a bit more, if you wish," he added, hesitantly.

Hermione felt her cheeks warm and she glanced at the bottle again. There were a number of potions that she knew of which would allow her 'enjoy the evening', and she wondered which one might be waiting for her in the small bottle. She could ask, she knew, but quickly opted against it. The effects might range from a gentle emotional numbing to a disregard of inhibitions that she would most likely have forgotten by the morning.

"Thank you," she murmured, turning back to Severus once again, "but I think I'd rather have full control over my emotions this evening." The room was too dark for Hermione to be entirely certain, but she thought that she saw the smallest gleam of a smile from the other side of the bed.

"As you wish," Severus replied.

The question of who was supposed to do what and when was quickly answered as Severus leaned forward slightly and caught Hermione in a kiss. It was not chaste, as their wedding kiss had been, though it was also not so demanding as to be terribly frightening.

"Not going to run from the room screaming, then?" Severus asked when they separated, the slightest hint of amusement in his voice.

Hermione's heart thudded so hard in her chest that she was sure Severus could feel it from where he sat, but she swallowed down her nervousness as best she could and shook her head. "No."

"Good." Severus leaned forward again, his hand brushing the length of Hermione's closest arm before his lips claimed hers again. The second kiss was more demanding than the first and, when Hermione responded, became more exploratory in nature.

Hermione was unsure exactly how long they continued in such a manner, but there was no more conversation. She was pleased to note that she did not feel rushed, though Severus stepped up his attentions regularly. And while she could readily admit to herself that she was both mildly embarrassed and somewhat terrified, Hermione also had to admit that his attention was not entirely unpleasant. Severus had obviously been in similar situations before and was doing a good job – or so Hermione thought – of reading whatever signals she gave him. He had even wordlessly encouraged Hermione's own tentative actions, so that by the time she found herself lying back with her pajama top fully unbuttoned and removed, she had explored the line of his jaw with gentle kisses and her hands had mapped the skin of his chest and arms.

Hermione was unaware of having made any sound worth noting until she felt Severus' hand move from the swell of the breast that he was exploring with soft flicks of his tongue. His left hand had been resting, still, on her hip until it was joined by it's mate on her other side. She felt Severus curl his fingertips beneath the waistbands of both her pajama pants and her undergarments beneath and, with a deft motion, raise her hips from the mattress just enough that he might tug the fabric from its resting place. A small sound of panic escaped Hermione's throat and when Severus raised his head to look at her, she became aware that she had gripped his shoulders tightly.

"Second thoughts?" he murmured.

Hermione shook her head once again. "No," she replied, a bit more breathless than she had realized. A small grin and another tug at her pajamas was Severus' only reply. Hermione breathed deeply and discovered that the feel of his hand on her now-bare hip was not as disconcerting as she had worried that it would be. He had, apparently, figured out how to get her relaxed at some point.

His hands slid down the outside of her thighs, then her calves, before rotating slightly and traveling back up the insides of her legs. Hermione felt her rate of breathing increase as his hands climbed higher, and the touch she expected was tender rather than merely exploratory when it came. She made another small sound, not of panic this time, when Severus' fingers reached through the dense curls and discovered the hint of moisture that his earlier attentions had caused. Severus had his mouth on her stomach at the time, and she felt him grin against her. Embarrassed though she might have been, Hermione couldn't help chuckling a little bit herself. This was, all in all, going much more smoothly than she had dared to hope.

While Hermione could not ignore a core of unease when she thought about what she was doing, and with whom exactly, she was still able to find some enjoyment in the moment. The actions that Severus exposed her to (or performed upon her, as the case were) were not unpleasant, and even though she knew that she would likely blush through breakfast the following morning, Hermione did allow herself to give in to the emotions which coursed through her.

Severus seemed quite breathless himself at the point which he urged Hermione's knees farther apart. "You really are quite lovely," he murmured, causing Hermione to blush in the darkness as he raised himself above her. She knew what was coming next, and thought that she was prepared.

And yelped in surprised pain when Severus lowered himself onto and inside of her.

For the second time that evening, Severus paused and met Hermione's eyes. Their faces were quite close to one another, and accustomed as she had become to the darkness of the room, Hermione could see his features outlined in the dim firelight. Severus searched her face, saying nothing.

"The books said there would be a slight discomfort," Hermione gasped in explanation, her voice high with pain and embarrassment. "I think that 'slight' was used as a relative term."

Severus scowled.

"You've never done this before." It was not a question.

Hermione shook her head. Her teeth were planted firmly into her lower lip.

Taking a bit more of his weight onto his own elbows, Severus sighed. He shifted his weight and brushed a bit of Hermione's hair away from her face and off of her shoulder.

"I had presumed…" he said quietly.

Hermione shook her head again. The expression on Severus' face changed, though it was too dark for her to read his expression clearly. She wasn't sure what to think, and so concentrated simply on breathing. That seemed to help.

Severus touched her cheek gently with the fingers of one hand. "We have to continue," he told her softly.

"I know," she murmured.

She was surprised when Severus brushed her lips with his. "The worst of it is over," he informed her, his voice still quiet. "You may not be terribly comfortable this evening, but will find more enjoyment from this point."

Hermione nodded her understanding and forced a small smile. Severus slowly resumed his movements, though Hermione noted that he seemed to take extra care. She remained tense at first, trying to time her breathing to the motions of the man above her, and was still uncomfortable but beginning to relax slightly when he closed his eyes and began to up his pace. Hermione worried, until the touch of a hand made her gasp. She might not be able to share in Severus' moment this time, though he seemed intent on making sure that she had as pleasant a time as possible given the circumstances.

Hermione found herself breathless and squirming by the time that Severus reached his breaking point. She suspected that he was approaching his peak when his hands left her to grip the bedding on either side of her. His rate of breathing had increased significantly, and she noted that he was pushing deeper into her than he had in the beginning. With a final grunt and a shudder that hit a very nice spot of her own, Severus stilled. He held himself above Hermione for a moment, watching her, before kissing her chastely and removing himself to one side of the bed.

They lay silently for a moment, each catching their breath. Severus quietly intoned once more that Hermione would find greater enjoyment in the act in subsequent attempts and she, very quietly, admitted that she had not found the first attempt entirely unpleasant. She wasn't wholly certain why she had shared that embarrassing bit of truth, but it seemed important in the moment.

Severus made a noise that Hermione thought might be a chuckle, then muttered a series of charms that left them both clean.

"Now I suggest that you get some sleep," he said, pulling the heavy blankets over both of them. "It's quite late."

Hermione nodded and lost her reply in a large yawn. She had planned to bolt from the room as quickly as they had completed their task, but she discovered that she was quite warm and cozy beneath the blankets that Severus had pulled over her shoulder. She curled towards him to tell him that she would be returning to her own room, lost that statement in a yawn too, and promptly fell into a comfortable doze.


End file.
